RANGOON (Democratic Voice of Burma / Radio Australia / BBC / The Irrawaddy / Pacific Media Watch): An experienced Burmese journalist, Aung Kyaw Naing, also known as Par Gyi, has been shot dead by a soldier under mysterious circumstances, reports The Irrawaddy news magazine.
Naing was killed 24 days ago by the Burmese military but news of his death only emerged last week after the media and Naing's wife, Than Dar, demanded that the military explain what they had done with Naing, who was seen on September 30 being arrested by the army.
The Burmese military not only kept Naing's death a secret but also buried his body, The Irrawaddy reported.
The army first arrested Naing on September 30 while he was out covering a story near the border with Thailand. Accusing Naing of being part of an armed group, the military held him in custody until 4 October when a soldier shot him dead.
During his time in custody, Naing was also taken around by a "roving battalion" of soldiers to search for members of the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA).
In a statement, the military claimed that Naing tried to grab a soldier's gun, and was shot dead.
The military then buried his body.
Dar had not been informed that her husband had been killed and will now sue the army for torture and death, reported the BBC.
She also wants her husband's body returned to her. Today she told a press conference that the police had agreed to open an investigation into Naing's murder.
"I can accept that people die, but this is different. There is no explanation for it at all. They perversely killed my husband, and the whole town of Kyeikmayaw saw him being detained,” she told the Democratic Voice of Burma.
About 300 people held a protest in Rangoon yesterday, denouncing the killing and calling for an investigation into Naing's killing.
Myo Nyein Nyein, editor of the Petinthan News Journal said to the Democratic Voice of Burma TV channel:
We must question how someone can be so easily detained and done away with like this in Burma. He was a Burmese citizen. And he went missing just like that. This is about a death of a human being, not a dog - it is meaningless if someone is forced to die like a dog. This is a deprivation of human rights.
Nyein said the murder led him to wonder how many others had been killed under the same circumstances without anyone knowing.
The Irrawaddy said Naing was "detained on September 30 by the army’s Light Infantry Battalion 208 in Mon State’s Kyaikmayaw town and had not been heard of since".
Kyaw Min Swe, editor-in-chief of local newspaper The Voice and the Press Council’s general secretary, told The Irrawaddy that the army's statement was not printed on their official letterhead and was also undated, but that it was emailed to the Press Council by an aide to Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing.
“We are going to discuss these events with the members of the Press Council soon,” he told the newspaper.
Saw Lont Lone, the secretary of Klohtoobaw Karen Organization, told The Irrawaddy that Naing was "just a journalist" and was not a member of an armed group.
Shawn Crispin, Southeast Asia representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a reaction on Friday afternoon that the government should publicly address the allegations.
“We are gravely concerned by preliminary reports that journalist Aung Kyaw Naing may have been killed while in military custody. Government authorities must investigate these reports and if founded reveal publicly the circumstances behind his death,” he told The Irrawaddy.
Radio Australia reported that journalists were often jailed by the previous military junta, while implemented "draconian censorship rules".
While the current regime had brought in reforms, "including freeing most political prisoners and lifting pre-publication press scrutiny", several journalists have been jailed this year.
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