Former UK Ambassador to Burma Vicky Bowman and her husband, renowned Burmese artist and activist Hetdeen Lin, were sentenced to a year in prison this Friday for violating the country’s immigration laws. They were detained last week by Burmese authorities in Rangoon, the largest Burmese city.
According to the BBC, Burma has all the elements of being political, as authorities rarely prosecute foreigners for crimes related to migration laws. The military authorities ruling the country are yet to comment on the punishment for not registering a change of residence.
Amnesty International’s deputy regional campaign director, Ming Yu Ha, described the news of Bowman and Hetdeen Lin’s convictions as deeply worrying. “Burma’s military has a poor record of arresting and imprisoning people on politically motivated or false charges,” he said.
Bowman was a diplomat in Burma in the 1990s and returned as ambassador from 2002 to 2006. He currently directs the Center for Responsible Business for Burma (MCRP) in Rangoon. The organization was shocked by the sentence.
In a statement, he explains that Bowman has “dedicated years of his life to strengthening social and economic development in Burma.” “We hope it will be possible for her to be reunited with her family in the UK soon.”
Meanwhile, Htein Lin is a prominent artist and former political prisoner. He was a member of the Student Democratic Front of Burma, an armed opposition group formed in 1988 after student-led popular uprisings against military rule.
The couple’s arrest came a week after the UK announced new sanctions against companies linked to the military, and says it will “intervene” in a genocide case opened by The Gambia against Burma at the International Court of Justice in 2019.
Additionally, according to the Associated Press, the couple’s arrest and conviction came just days after the United Nations Special Envoy for Burma, Nolene Heiser, met with General Min Aung Hlaing, head of the Burmese military junta. Heiser called for the release of all political prisoners.
In recent weeks, the military, which has ruled the country since 2021 after a coup, has intensified its crackdown on the opposition, including journalists and foreign nationals. In July, the military junta executed at least four opposition members, including former National League for Democracy (LND) deputy Pheo Zea Thaw and activist Ko Jimmy.
Burma’s military regime has been accused of widespread human rights abuses and the UK has taken a hard line against the military regime, with the current UK ambassador being expelled from the country.
The military junta that seized power last year, toppling the democratically elected government of Aung Sung Suu Kyi, may have feared Bowman’s work and stature. This is because it can gather classified information or detailed knowledge about the opaque activities of dubious entities linked to the military.
Bowman also criticized some of the measures taken by the junta that affected the economy. He has spoken at several seminars in Burma since the coup, though he has always been careful to avoid overt criticism of the military government. Her husband may also have been a factor in denouncing her prominent role in relation to the military executive.
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