BANGKOK — A court in Myanmar has sentenced a retired military officer and a foreign ministry official to death for leaking details of secret trip to North Korea by top government officials, according to news reports that cited lawyers in the country.
There has been no mention in the official media in military-run Myanmar of the court decision, which was said to have been handed down on Thursday and was first reported in The Irrawaddy, a Web news site covering Myanmar.
Another Foreign Ministry official received 15 years in prison for a related offense, according to both the Irrawaddy and Reuters.
The case appeared to highlight the repressive government’s concern about a number of leaks and lapses in recent years, including the publication of minutes of high-level military meetings and photographs of extensive tunnel systems reportedly built by North Korean engineers in the country’s administrative capital, Naypyidaw.
“Clearly there are leaks,” said Win Min, an expert on Myanmar at Payap University in Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand. “It’s a sign that there are a lot of people even within the military who do not like the government, and they’re trying to protest in different ways.”
The three men sentenced Thursday were reported to have been arrested in July after photographs and documents of a visit to North Korea by Gen. Shwe Mann, the third-highest ranking officer in the junta, appeared on Web sites run by critics of the government living abroad.
At least one of the photographs showed General Shwe Mann visiting a nuclear facility in North Korea.
Experts believe that Myanmar, formerly called Burma, has been seeking to establish a nuclear program but that the government lacks the technical ability to proceed beyond its current nascent stages.
“It is not clear if North Korea is involved in any nuclear activities in Burma, or that Burma even has a reasonably sophisticated nuclear program,” said Bertil Lintner, who has written extensively on both Myanmar and North Korea. “What we know with certainty is that North Korea and Burma have established a secret alliance and that North Korea has delivered military-related equipment to Burma.”
Mr. Lintner also believes that North Korean technicians helped the Myanmar government build underground installations where military equipment can be stored and officials can hide in case of emergency.
Reuters identified the two men sentenced to death as Maj. Win Naing Kyaw and Thura Kyaw, both of whom were charged under a broad law that covers threats to national security. The third person sentenced was identified by The Irrawaddy as Pyan Sein, who was convicted of violating an act covering the use of illegal electronic devices.
The sentences reflect what many experts describe as the paranoia of Myanmar’s senior general, Than Shwe, who appears continually concerned about threats to his power. Five years ago he moved the seat of government to a more remote location, Naypyidaw, in part to defend against potential outside attacks.
General Than Shwe recently confirmed that elections would take place this year — the first in two decades — and the death sentences may be a warning to potential dissenters, analysts said.
“He doesn’t have a choice — he has to call elections because he already announced they would go ahead,” Mr. Win Min said. “But he is still worried about threats from within.”
Death sentences in Myanmar are often commuted to life in prison, but the court decision remains a potent reminder for those thinking of stepping out of line, Mr. Win Min said.
Source:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/world/asia/09myanmar.html
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