A demonstration will be held today outside Liverpool Street station to call for the release of political prisoners in Burma. The demonstration has been organised by Amnesty International and will be attended by Amnesty International student leaders from across the UK and members of the Burmese Community in London.
“The regime wants the world to forget these brave activists. They have locked them up and thrown away the key. But we will not forget these innocent prisoners, we will do everything we can to ensure the regime sets them free. ” said Wai Hnin, Political Prisoners Campaigner at the Burma Campaign UK. “These prisoners, like my father, have committed no crime. They just want freedom for the people of Burma.”
The protest comes shortly after a new global signature campaign was launched to draw attention to the plight of political prisoners in Burma. The petition calls on the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to make it his personal priority to secure the release of all political prisoners in Burma, as the essential first step towards national reconciliation and democratization in the country. The target symbolises 8.8.88, the day the junta massacred some 3,000 people who courageously protested in Burma’s largest democracy uprising. The global signature campaign will run from 13 March to 24 May.
To sign the petition, visit the Free Burma’s Political Prisoners Now section on the Burma Campaign UK website
For more details contact Wai Hnin, Political Prisoners Campaigner at the Burma Campaign UK : +44 (0)207 324 4710
Notes to Editors:
Wai Hnin’s father is Mya Aye. Mya Aye is currently serving a sentence of 65 and a half years for campaigning against the Burmese Junta. He has been imprisoned for 8 of the last 18 years. He is currently imprisoned in Loikaw prison, Eastern Burma, 551 miles from his hometown, Rangoon.
Mya Aye is in poor health, suffering from heart problems, having previously had a heart attack but is denied proper medical treatment by the regime.
Related Links:
Click here to find about more about Political Prisoners in Burma.