The Best Friend members still in prison

It has been a year, since Thanda Htun and Ko Nyo were sentenced to a five year prison sentence. Their crime? Contact with “members of a Buddhist monks’ group that is in opposition to the military dictatorship in Burma”.

Thanda Htun (27) and Ko Nyo (32) were punished for their social work and their desire to help the people. They were involved in supporting victims of the 2008 Cyclone Nargis. Thanda Htun worked as a tour guide and Ko Nyo as an English teacher in Mandalay. They were arrested by Special Branch police in August 2009 in Mandalay and accused of having traveled to Thailand (Mae Sot) to meet with members of an “outlawed organization”.

The police did not have proper evidence to link them to this ‘crime’ and took them to an interrogation centre where they were kept illegally for over one month. They were tortured there to give false confessions. They were later transferred to Insein prison in Rangoon, where they were put on trial. According to the law they should have been tried in Mandalay, where they were arrested. In March 2010, after a grossly unfair trial, both Thanda Htun and Ko Nyo were sentenced to five years in prison. Both are currently being held in Insein prison.

Below a list of the names of the Special Branch police involved in their arrest and trial:

1. Police Captain Myo Thant, Serial No. La/127891 (prosecuting officer)
2. Inspector Thet Tin, Underground Unit, Internal Affairs Department
3. Inspector Khin Myint, Serial No. La/126459, Myawaddy Special Detachment
4. Inspector Htun Oo Thein, Serial No. La/139240, Investigations, Myawaddy
5. Sub-Inspector Win Kyaw, Serial No. La/151155, External Affairs Department
6. Sub-Inspector Myint Hlaing, Serial No. La/149703, Upper Myanmar Division
7. Sub-Inspector San Lin, Mandalay

Details of their precise charges and the trial:

Yangon Western District Court (Special Court)
Judge U Tin Htun (Serial No. Ta/1780, Deputy District Judge No. 3) presiding
Sentenced on 24 March 2010 to three years each under section 13(1) of the 1947 Immigration (Emergency Provisions) Act, and two years each under section 7 of the 1988 Organizations Law, to be served concurrently

Reasons why both their detention and trial were seriously flawed:

1. The police took them into custody on 3 August 2009, but a case was not opened against them until 11 September 2009. During this time they were illegally detained at an interrogation centre where they were allegedly tortured to extract confessions.

2. There was no firm evidence against either of them. Aside from the confessions evidently extracted through torture that are legally inadmissible, the police had no material evidence of any crimes. The 11 prosecution witnesses consisted only of the police, a couple of low-ranking council officials and two witnesses to the search and seizure of property at time of arrest. There were no independent or credible witnesses to any crime. Also, witnesses that should have been called, namely, officials from the immigration office in Myawaddy, were not: instead they just sent documentary information, which is not acceptable as primary evidence because it denies the defense of the right to make a cross-examination.

3. The trial was conducted in a closed court in violation of the Judiciary Law of 2000 under which hearings should be held in open court. Actually, the authorities in Burma have repeatedly and flagrantly violated this provision of their own law on orders from the Supreme Court even though the court has no power to issue such orders, which are anyhow contrary to international standards on the conduct of trial.

4. The two accused are residents of Mandalay and they allegedly committed the crimes at the border of Thailand, but they were incorrectly brought to the central prison in Rangoon for the trial without correct authorization (Criminal Procedure Code, sections 177, 178).

According to recent reports from people who spoke with them, they are not doing too bad at the moment. They both lack sleep, because their prison cells are very crowded.

The case of Thanda Htun and Ko Nyo should be urgently reviewed and most of all, both should be immediately and unconditionally released from prison. The alleged torture and illegal detention need to be investigated and those responsible for this should be held accountable.

Thanks to Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in Hongkong for case details.