Connect with us

News

Myanmar Court Sentences Former UK Ambassador to 1 Year in Prison

Avatar of CTN News

Published

on

Myanmar Court Sentences Former UK Ambassador

The former UK ambassador to Myanmar has been sentenced to one year in prison for failing to register her residence, a government spokesperson told AP.

An unofficial report claimed that former envoy Vicki Bowman and her husband, a Myanmar national, were each sentenced to one year in prison in Yangon’s Insein Prison on Friday.

Bowman has been the director of the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business since 2013, a business ethics advisory group which promotes human rights through responsible business in Myanmar.

Despite the fact that her business was primarily a consulting firm and she did not play a prominent role in public affairs, the charge against Bowman has been widely viewed as a pretext to punish her for views the government may have considered critical.

Britain’s Foreign Office in London commented on the sentencing, saying, “We will continue to support Ms Bowman and her family until the case is resolved.”

In a statement last week, the military government announced that the couple was arrested on Aug. 24. Bowman, who served as the British ambassador to Myanmar between 2002 and 2006, was detained because she did not inform the authorities about relocating last year from Yangon to Kalaw township in Shan state.

During a return trip to Yangon, Myanmar they were arrested.

She and her husband, Htein Lin, were charged under the Immigration Act and Foreigners Registration Rules. According to the statement, Bowman was charged with breaching visa rules because she failed to comply with regulations governing foreigners.

According to the report, Bowman was liable for six months to five years’ imprisonment for not changing the address on her official residence permit registration card.

When her address was not properly registered, she automatically violated the Immigration Act, which has a catch-all provision that foreigners are guilty of violating their visas if some other law was broken.

It is common for foreigners convicted in high-profile cases to be expelled from Myanmar before they have served their full sentences, though their period of detention can sometimes last for months.

According to a government statement, Bowman’s husband was charged with abetting the improper address registration.

Htein Lin is a veteran political activist and artist who was a student during Myanmar’s 1989 uprising against military rule. Additionally, he was held prisoner by a previous government.

Myanmar has since slipped into what the U.N. characterizes as a civil war.

More than 15,320 people have been arrested as a result of the military government’s crackdown on opponents, according to a detailed list compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).

According to Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the U.N.’s Geneva office of human rights, the agency is “deeply shocked that de facto authorities are punishing people committed to the country’s development.”

Overall, we are concerned about the miscarriages of justice in Burma. “This trial and these kinds of sentences further exacerbate the concerns we’ve had,” she said in a news conference.

In response to reports of the sentencing, Amnesty International noted that activists, artists, journalists, students, business owners, and medical professionals have been arbitrarily detained and jailed by the military since the coup.

According to the latest reports, the former UK ambassador and her Burmese artist husband have been convicted.

According to the statement, Myanmar’s military has a notorious record of arresting and imprisoning people on politically motivated or trumped-up charges, especially after the Myanmar coup.

More Jail time for Aung San Suu Kyi

On Friday, a military court sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to three years’ imprisonment with labor. The military court found her guilty of election fraud, adding more jail time to the 17 year prison sentence she is already serving.

In addition, the verdict also lends support to the government’s explicit threats to dissolve Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party before a new election that will be held in 2023, which has been promised by the military.

Suu Kyi was charged with election fraud in November by the Election Commission, whose members were replaced after the Myanmar military seized power in a military coup.

Suu Kyi and her colleagues are accused of violating the constitution by allegedly influencing the old commission.
According to the military-appointed commission, they were “involved in electoral processes, election fraud, and lawless actions” related to the election.

Continue Reading

CTN News App

CTN News App

Recent News

BUY FC 24 COINS

compras monedas fc 24

Volunteering at Soi Dog

Find a Job

Jooble jobs

Free ibomma Movies