A journalist who says he was forced to flee his home for fear of reprisals from timber smugglers has accused local authorities in Mandalay Region of not coming to his aid. And another reporter, a freelancer, staged a one-man protest denouncing “corrupt officials”.
Ko Tin Zaw Oo, who works for The Voice Daily in Mandalay Region, says six men came to his home on October 6, the day after the paper carried a story he wrote on illegal sawmills in Thabeikkyin township.
“One day after I covered the story, they came to my home. They told me that they had come from the forest to see me, as I was well-known. Then they told me to follow them. I asked them to wait, as I was writing a story for the newspaper. While they were waiting I called the deputy head of the township police, but he told me to call the chief of police. Just then, a government official turned up, and the men left. My neighbours rallied around the whole night, and the next morning I fled to Mandalay for my safety,” he said. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
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