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Monday, January 10 6:25 PM SGT
Myanmar Releases Jailed Pro-democracy Economics WriterYANGON, Myanmar (AP)--Myanmar's military government has released from prison a noted economics writer, a former senior member of the pro-democracy party of Aung San Suu Kyi.A Myanmar government statement on Monday said Moe Thu, 62, also known as Sein Myint, the former editor of the popular economics magazine Danna, was freed from Yangon's Insein Jail on Jan. 3 on humanitarian grounds following the death of his wife. He was jailed for rallying crowds without permission in June 1996 in the name of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, it said, without mentioning the duration of his sentence. A friend who saw him after his release last week said Moe Thu was in good health. Also known as a film director, Moe Thu had been a senior member of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, but apparently fell out of favor for his left-wing views and was expelled from the party. Hundreds of party activists and other political opponents of the military regime have been jailed or forced into exile. The regime brooks no opposition and has refused to recognize the party's sweeping victory in elections in 1990. |