The minister for the State Counsellor’s Office Minister said this week that only detainees who are prosecuted legally for their involvement in demonstrations will be recognised as political prisoners. Groups working to protect the rights of political prisoners have strongly condemned the minister’s statement.
Union Minister Kyaw Tint Swe said: “We are supporting the goodwill and the instruction of the State Counsellor in order to eliminate political prisoners under the democratic government. There may be many differences regarding [between definitions of] a political prisoner according to the data of unofficial organisations. We define it, according to the policy of the State Counsellor, as only those who faced legal prosecution in line with the law for taking part in demonstrations.
Groups representing political prisoners criticised the minister’s definitions, saying it implies that people who were imprisoned for political activities for violating other laws are not recognised as political prisoners. (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)
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