The All Burma Monks' Alliance (ABMA) has urged the Burmese military junta to release two persons who were sentenced to death last week for releasing state secrets to exiled media, according to a statement on Tuesday.
The ABMA, the group that spearheaded the 2007 Saffron Revolution, is a leading opposition group with members in exile and within Burma.
The statement said that the death sentences are a disgrace, inappropriate and that they threaten all civil servants.
Win Naing Kyaw and Thura Kyaw were sentenced to death for their role in the release of information about a secret trip to North Korea by Burmese generals in connection with the procurement of military weapons.
“They are brave people who dare to leak secret information from the military government,” said the statement.
The statement said dialogue is the only way to solve the political differences in the country and putting people in prison will not solve the conflict. More than 20 other persons have been arrested in an investigation of the leaked information, which included documents, photographs and video. Their fate is unknown.
Burma currently has 2,177 political prisoners, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights group based in Thailand.
Meanwhile, a Mon monk, Ashin Uk Kong Sa, 28, was arrested by special police about 2 p.m. On Thursday in Thanbyuzayat Township in Mon State, after he launched a campaign opposing the 2010 election, Mon sources said.
A friend of the monk told The Irrawaddy: “The special police arrested Ashin Uk Kong Sa for painting “No 2010 Election” along the highway from Moulmein to Ye townships to mark New Year's. When he was arrested, police seized a video camera, a computer and leaflets opposing the 2010 election. Later, a computer hard drive was seized from his room.
He was treated at Moulmein Hospital after he was disrobed and tortured by authorities while being detained in Thanbyuzayat Township, sources said
New Mon State Party sources said that Ashin Uk Kong Sah, who is well-known in the Mon community, has been transferred to an interrogation center in Rangoon.
The ABMA, the group that spearheaded the 2007 Saffron Revolution, is a leading opposition group with members in exile and within Burma.
The statement said that the death sentences are a disgrace, inappropriate and that they threaten all civil servants.
Win Naing Kyaw and Thura Kyaw were sentenced to death for their role in the release of information about a secret trip to North Korea by Burmese generals in connection with the procurement of military weapons.
“They are brave people who dare to leak secret information from the military government,” said the statement.
The statement said dialogue is the only way to solve the political differences in the country and putting people in prison will not solve the conflict. More than 20 other persons have been arrested in an investigation of the leaked information, which included documents, photographs and video. Their fate is unknown.
Burma currently has 2,177 political prisoners, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights group based in Thailand.
Meanwhile, a Mon monk, Ashin Uk Kong Sa, 28, was arrested by special police about 2 p.m. On Thursday in Thanbyuzayat Township in Mon State, after he launched a campaign opposing the 2010 election, Mon sources said.
A friend of the monk told The Irrawaddy: “The special police arrested Ashin Uk Kong Sa for painting “No 2010 Election” along the highway from Moulmein to Ye townships to mark New Year's. When he was arrested, police seized a video camera, a computer and leaflets opposing the 2010 election. Later, a computer hard drive was seized from his room.
He was treated at Moulmein Hospital after he was disrobed and tortured by authorities while being detained in Thanbyuzayat Township, sources said
New Mon State Party sources said that Ashin Uk Kong Sah, who is well-known in the Mon community, has been transferred to an interrogation center in Rangoon.
