BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — A former British envoy, an Australian economic adviser and a Japanese journalist flew to Thailand late Thursday after being freed by Myanmar’s junta in an amnesty releasing almost 6,000 prisoners. Since a military coup last year, Myanmar has seen a bloody crackdown on dissent in which thousands of people have been jailed. Former British ambassador Vicky Bowman, Australian economic adviser Sean Turnell and Japanese journalist Toru Kubota touched down in Bangkok […]
Tag: coup
Myanmar junta to release UK ex-ambassador, Australian and Japanese prisoners
Yangon, Myanmar (AFP) ADDS fresh quote, 200 gathered outside prison, Australian FM statement Myanmar’s military said Thursday it will release almost 6,000 prisoners, including a former British ambassador, a Japanese journalist and an Australian economics adviser, in a rare olive branch from the isolated junta. The Southeast Asian country has been in turmoil since the military’s coup last year and a bloody crackdown on dissent during which thousands have been jailed. Former British envoy Vicky […]
Myanmar rebels attack key border town
Yangon, Myanmar | AFP | Myanmar ethnic rebels attacked a key town near the Thai border on Friday, residents and local media said, with the military junta calling in air strikes. The Karen National Union (KNU) has been a vocal opponent of the coup which brought the generals to power last year, and has provided shelter to dissidents working to oust the junta. Its fighters have clashed sporadically with the military along the Thai border, sending […]
Myanmar junta jails Suu Kyi for 6 more years for corruption: source
Yangon, Myanmar | AFP | Myanmar’s junta sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday to another six years in prison for corruption, a source with knowledge of the case said, taking the Nobel laureate’s total jail time to 26 years. Suu Kyi “was sentenced to three years imprisonment each for two corruption cases” in which she had been accused of taking bribes from a businessman, the source said, adding that the terms would […]
More than 1 million displaced since Myanmar coup: UN
Yangon, Myanmar (AFP) More than one million people have been displaced in Myanmar since the military coup last year, the United Nations children’s agency has said. The Southeast Asian nation has been in turmoil since the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government last year, sparking widespread armed resistance. The junta has responded with a crackdown that rights groups say includes razing villages, mass extrajudicial killings and airstrikes on civilians. Since the coup and as […]
Myanmar junta court sentences Australian economist, Suu Kyi to 3 years
Yangon, Myanmar (AFP) Myanmar’s junta sentenced an Australian economist to three years in prison while also handing down another conviction to ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, drawing global condemnation on Thursday. Both have been detained since a coup in February last year, when the military ousted Suu Kyi’s government, for which Sean Turnell was an adviser. “Mr Sean Turnell, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and another three were sentenced to three years imprisonment each […]
Fear, defiance as fighting rages in Myanmar’s north
SAGAING, Myanmar (AFP) — Anti-coup fighters in Myanmar patrol the smoldering ruins of a burned village after what they say was a reprisal attack by junta troops struggling to crush resistance to last year’s military coup. Corrugated roofs, support beams and cooking utensils are all that remain amid the ash in the village in northwestern Sagaing — an area which has seen some of the fiercest fighting against the military’s power grab. Rare footage obtained […]
Former British ambassador to Myanmar detained in Yangon
A statement on the arrest of Vicky Bowman, Director of the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business: https://t.co/XibRhhSIXM pic.twitter.com/xdIQk1yhoO — Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) (@ihrb) August 25, 2022 Yangon, Myanmar (AFP) Myanmar authorities have arrested Britain’s former ambassador to the country and her husband, a prominent artist and one-time political prisoner, for allegedly violating immigration laws, the junta said on Thursday. Vicky Bowman, who served as envoy from 2002 to 2006, was detained for […]
Myanmar junta chief says military open to negotiations with Suu Kyi after her trial
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s military chief said Friday the junta is open to negotiations with ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to end the crisis sparked by its coup after her trials in a junta-run court have concluded. Suu Kyi, 77, has been detained since the generals toppled her government in a coup on February 1 last year and plunged the Southeast Asian nation into chaos. She has been jailed for 17 years for […]
Myanmar junta court jails Suu Kyi for six years for corruption
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — A Myanmar junta court jailed Aung San Suu Kyi for six years for corruption on Monday, a source close to the case said, taking the ousted leader’s prison time to 17 years. Suu Kyi, 77, has been detained since the generals toppled her government in a coup on February 1 of last year, ending the Southeast Asian country’s brief period of democracy. She has since been hit with a series of […]
Australian economist pleads not guilty at Myanmar junta trial: source
Yangon, Myanmar | AFP | An Australian economist detained by Myanmar’s junta has pleaded not guilty to breaching the colonial-era official secrets act, a source close to the case said on Friday. Sean Turnell was working as an adviser to Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi when he was detained shortly after the coup that ousted her government in February last year. On trial in a secretive junta court that journalists cannot access, he […]
Mali welcomes lifting of ‘illegal, inhumane’ sanctions
BAMAKO, Mali (AFP) — Mali’s junta said Monday it was “satisfied” by the lifting of “illegal and inhumane” sanctions imposed by West African states in January after two coups in the country. The military-dominated government said in a statement it “notes with satisfaction a convergence of views that has allowed us to reach a compromise” that led to the lifting of the embargo against Mali. It thanked the Malian people for their “sacrifice and resilience” […]





