Burma : Suu Kyi's First Article for 23 Years Published

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Suu Kyi's First Article for 23 Years Published in Burma
WAI MOE
A correspondent of The Irrawaddy in Rangoon contributed to this article.
Monday, September 5, 2011


The front pages of Pyithu Khit News Journal (left) and Messenger News Journal this week with Suu Kyi's pictures.

Pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has published her first article in the Burmese media for 23 years on the front page of Pyithu Khit News Journal, while Messenger News also ran an exclusive interview with the Nobel Laureate as its cover story.

Pyithu Khit (People’s Era) was permitted by the Burmese censorship board—the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division under the Ministry of Information—to publish Suu Kyi’s article entitled Holiday-1 in this week's edition, according to journalists and distributors in Rangoon.

An official at Pyithu Khit Journal told The Irrawaddy on Monday that they also carried a piece by one of her close aides—veteran journalist Win Tin’s old article on Suu Kyi’s father Aung San.

“We applied at the censorship board for the right to publish the article and they allowed it. There was not much difficulty during the process,” he added.

The other publication receiving the green light from the censorship board, headed by former military officers, is Messenger News Journal. It is run by Zaw Min Aye, son of ex-Lt-Gen Tin Aye who is currently chairman of the Union Election Commission and former chief of Military Ordinance.

The censoring process for Suu Kyi’s interview took around 10 months before permission was granted.

“The interview with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi took place in December 2010 [shortly after her release from house arrest]. Since then we have been applying for permission to publish the interview at the censorship board,” said an official with Messenger Journal who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The censorship board cut all references to politics, which amounted to around 75 percent of the interview, but allowed issues related to youth,” he added.

In this week's issue, Pyithu Khit used Suu Kyi’s photo alongside her son Htain Lin and his dog. It was taken during her trip to Pagan in July.

The granting of permission for Suu Kyi’s article and interview to appear with front page photos comes soon after her first trip to Naypyidaw and talks with President Thein Sein on August 19-20. She was invited to the administrative capital for a state-sponsored economic workshop as a “special guest,” and also had two meetings with government minister Aung Kyi in July and August.

This move comes amid calls from the international community for the Burmese regime to ensure Suu Kyi's safety and human rights. US Senator John McCain urged the new Burmese administration to guarantee Suu Kyi’s rights and freedom of movement during a statement in Rangoon at the end of his trip to Burma in June.

For the last 23 years, even Suu Kyi’s name or any symbols indirectly referring to her—such as “the lady,” “the mother” or “the rose”—were banned in publications within the military-ruled Southeast Asian nation.

The censorship board’s recent actions contrast with last November when nine Burmese private journals were suspended from publishing for one or two weeks for covering her release. The censorship board said the journals were “crossing the line.”

Suu Kyi’s article and interview in the Burmese media this week received mixed reactions from journalists in Burma. Some welcomed the move while others view the issue with skepticism, with the Naypyidaw regime remaining notorious for enforcing draconian laws oppressing freedom of expression.

In Burma, anyone can still be charged and imprisoned under the Printers and Publishers Law, the Electronic Transaction Law and the Official Secrets Act among others, if authorities suspect any publication is challenging the state.

“I think allowing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s article and interview is firstly the outcome of meetings between her and government officials, and secondly relates to the question of space in the Burmese media,” said an experienced freelance reporter in Rangoon.

“It would be too early and out of context if we examine only this case instead of the whole media environment of the country,” he added.

A female senior staffer with a leading news journal in Rangoon said, “It is very good to see Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s photos, article and interview in Pyithu Khit and Messenger. But some publishers will misuse her photos and writings for their own benefit since journals with her photos are easily sold out.”

According to distributors in Rangoon, this week's edition of both Pyithu Khit and Messenger with Suu Kyi’s article and interview are quite popular among readers and have been selling well.

“Many people came to buy the Messenger News Journal with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s photo this morning. Unlike last week, it was sold out within a few hours due to her interview,” said the owner of a journal stand in Rangoon’s Tamwe Township.

irrawaddy.org

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“The censorship board cut all references to politics, which amounted to around 75 percent of the interview,

Democracy ASEAN style

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Suu Kyi interview lands magazine in trouble
AHUNT PHONE MYAT
8 September 2011


Front cover of the Messenger news journal

A news journal that published a scoop interview with opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi in a supplement section with a full-page photo of her has been suspended from publishing the supplement section for a week by the Ministry of Information’s Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD) (known as the censor board.)

An editor of Messenger News Journal told DVB they were notified by the censor board yesterday morning about the suspension for violating new press regulations that were recently adopted;“We have been suspended from publishing the supplement section for violating press regulations laid by the PSRD,” said the editor.

The interview was her first in the domestic press, and signals the persistence of sensitivity over the popular Nobel laureate’s role in the country, despite meeting with President Thein Sein and signs of a warming of relations between the government and her National League for Democracy party.

The new press regulations under which the Messenger was punished were added recently as amendments on 1962 Publishers and Printers Registration Law after many news journals had photos of Suu Kyi on their front pages when she was released from house arrest in November last year.

The editor said: “The PSRD has its rules and regulations and we do abide by them but sometimes, although we don’t hold an intention to deliberately violate these regulations, we have to do things accordingly with time and situation and the PSRD may see it us violating their regulations.”

Messanger News Journal is run by Zaw Min Aye son of former army captain Tin Aye who is now the chairman of Union Election Commission.

The supplement was published through a fast track censorship system where by instead of the week long process certain sections with breaking news can be submitted the night before.

dvb.no