Former UK envoy to Myanmar Vicky Bowman, husband jailed for allegedly breaching immigration laws, now released

Vicky Bowman, a former British ambassador to Myanmar who was imprisoned for allegedly violating immigration laws, has been set free.

To commemorate Myanmar's National Victory Day, Bowman and her spouse, Burmese artist Htein Lin, were among a handful of convicts who were amnestied and released. The two violated the nation's Immigration Act and were sentenced to one year in prison in September for "failure to register as living at a different address."

Vicky Bowman has more than three decades of experience in Myanmar and served as the British ambassador there from 2002 to 2006. She was in charge of a group that supported ethical business practices in Myanmar at the time of their incarceration.


The foreigners' detention had caused a rift between Myanmar's leaders and their respective home governments, which had pushed for their release. Since the army overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically elected administration in February of last year, 16,232 people have been held in Myanmar on political accusations, according to the rights monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.


According to the AAPP, 13,015 of those are still in detention as of Wednesday, while security personnel murdered at least 2,465 people within the same period.

The Voice of Myanmar and Yangon Media Group was informed by the government's representative, Major General Zaw Min Tun, that an unidentified American, economist Sean Turnell from Australia, and Japanese filmmaker Toru Kubota had also been released and deported. Security personnel detained Mr. Turnell, 58, an assistant professor of economics at Macquarie University in Sydney, at a hotel in Yangon.

FAQs:

1. Who was informed of the release of Major General Zaw Min Tun and the American economist?
   The Voice of Myanmar and Yangon Media Group was informed by the government's representative, Major General Zaw Min Tun, that an unidentified American, economist Sean Turnell from Australia, and Japanese filmmaker Toru Kubota had also been released.
2. What is the view of O'Connor of Amnesty International Australia?
   According to O'Connor of Amnesty International Australia, Mr. Turnell, like a few others, should never have been detained or imprisoned.