14 Feb, 2011
AFP
PHNOM PENH: A foreign press association expressed concern Monday about the arrest of an Australian newspaper publisher in Myanmar, calling for his release from prison while awaiting trial.
Ross Dunkley, co-founder of the Myanmar Times -- the country's only newspaper with foreign investment -- was arrested in Yangon on Thursday.
He is being held in Myanmar's notorious Insein prison, according to his business partner in Cambodia, where he is a key shareholder in Post Media, the publisher of the Phnom Penh Post newspaper.
The Overseas Press Club of Cambodia (OPCC) said in a statement that it saw "no reason to imprison Dunkley ahead of his trial, and is concerned that his arrest is an abuse of the law in order to resolve a business dispute".
It added: "The OPCC is further concerned that Dunkley's arrest is in line with a trend of increasing authoritarianism in some countries in the region and efforts to circumscribe hard-won press freedoms."
Post Media chairman David Armstrong has suggested Dunkley's arrest is linked to a power struggle between foreign and domestic owners of the Myanmar Times, which publishes weekly editions in English and Burmese.
Dunkley co-founded the Myanmar Times in 2000 with local partner Sonny Swe, the son of an influential member of the junta's military intelligence service.
But Sonny Swe was jailed in 2005 and his stake was passed to Tin Tun Oo, who is reportedly close to the military regime's information minister.
Dunkley is due to appear in court on February 24, Armstrong said.
-AFP/ac
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