Yangon (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Burmese regime has sentenced to death two government officials for spreading state secrets. They are accused of revealing "confidential information" relating to two diplomatic trips to North Korea and Russia. A third man, a civilian, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after a closed door trial that lasted two months. The three are also accused of leaking "military secrets" on the underground tunnels, which the junta has built around the capital, Naypyidaw, with the help of Pyongyang.
Yesterday, the Yangon court sentenced to death Win Naing Kyaw, a former army officer, personal assistant to former number two of the dictatorship, General Tin Oo. He was charged under the State Emergency Act III, for providing military secrets to foreign dissident media. The former officer has suffered a second sentence - 20 years in prison - for violating the Electronic Act and possession of foreign currency.
The second death sentence was imposed against Thura Kyaw, better known as Aung Aung, former top aide of the Burmese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Fifteen years in prison, finally, for Pyan Sein, who is also an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for violation of the Electronic Act
The three were arrested on charges of spreading photos and information regarding the trip of General Shwe Mann to North Korea and a senior representative of the regime to Russia. They have also provided information on the network of underground tunnels, which the junta has built around the capital with the help of technicians of the North Korean regime.
In recent days, finally, a Burmese court sentenced to 20 years in prison a TV journalist, working with foreign publications. Hla Hla Win, 25, was arrested in September last year, while taking some shots in a Buddhist monastery in Pakokku in the north of the country.