LOC14:28
11:28 GMT
PARIS, Sept 24 (KUNA) -- UNESCOs Director General Koichiro Matsuura
expressed his "immense joy" over the release by the authorities of Myanmar of,
the 2001 laureate of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Press Freedom Prize, U Win Tin
after 19 years in prison.
The official expressed in a statement his "immense joy" and welcomed the
release of U Win Tin.
He affirmed that the authorities have taken a "wise and positive step"
through the freeing of the laureate and other prisoners, towards "respecting
the fundamental human right of freedom of expression, an indispensable
component of democracy and rule of law."
U Win Tin, 79, is the former editor of a daily, vice-chair of Myanmar's
Writers' Association and a founder of the National League for Democracy, which
is led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest.
He was arrested in July 1989 and was accused of belonging to the banned
Communist Party of Myanmar. Condemned to 14 years jail, he received an
additional sentence of five years in 1996 for breaking prison regulations
prohibiting the possession of writing materials.
Matsuura had repeatedly called for the release of U Win Tin, invoking both
the fundamental human right of freedom of expression and humanitarian grounds.
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