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TWO JOURNALISTS RELEASED FROM JAIL

Two journalists have been released from prison in Burma after being pardoned by the military dictatorship, report Mizzima News, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), International PEN's Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF

Thaung Tun and Than Win Hlaing were given an early release on 3 January 2007. They were among more than 2,800 detainees who were granted amnesty that day.

Thaung Tun, who writes under the pen name Nyein Thit, is an editor, reporter and poet. He was sentenced to eight years in prison in October 1999 for his role in producing unauthorised video documentaries that showed footage of human rights violations committed by Burma's military. He and his videographer Aung Pwint were awarded a CPJ International Press Freedom Award in 2004. Since his release from prison, Thaung Tun has reportedly returned to his family home in the city of Mandalay, according to RSF.

Than Win Hlaing, a journalist with the "Mya Yeik Nyo Journal", was arrested in June 2000 and sentenced to seven years in prison for writing about opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her father, Gen. Aung San. During Than's detention, prison officials repeatedly refused to treat his diabetes and kidney problems, RSF notes. He has now been reunited with his family.

Meanwhile, six journalists remain imprisoned in Burma, according to CPJ. They include U Win Tin, U Thaung Sein, Ko Moe Htun, Ne Min, Monywa Aung-Shin, and Ko Kyaw Thwin.

Another seven individuals classified by WiPC as writers are also serving jail sentences. They are Kyaw Sein Oo, Aung San Suu Kyi, Ko Aung Tun, Aung Than, Zeya Aung, Maung Maung Oo and Sein Hlaing.

The release of the journalists and other detainees comes as the U.N. Security Council debates a draft resolution calling on Burma's military junta to release political prisoners and put an end to human rights violations against ethnic minorities. Burma is one of the world's worst violators of free expression, according to Human Rights Watch.

Visit these links:

- Mizzima News: http://www.mizzima.com/
- WiPC: http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/
- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/news/2007/asia/burma04jan07na.html
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=20315
- Human Rights Watch Backgrounder: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/18/burma12268.htm
- Nobel Peace Laureates Back U.N. Resolution on Burma: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070105/pl_afp/usunmyanmarrights_070105204932
- Uncertainty Lies Ahead in Burma: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35412
- U.S. Campaign for Burma: http://www.uscampaignforburma.org/