ID :
190408
Wed, 06/22/2011 - 14:08
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/190408
The shortlink copeid
Aust media boss seeks acquittal in Burma
SYDNEY (AAP) - June 22 - Executives backing Australian publisher Ross Dunkley's media company in Burma are hopeful a judge will clear the Australian when a Burmese court hands down its verdict on multiple charges and immigration violations.
A Burmese judge said a final decision on the 55-year-old Dunkley will be handed down at the Kamaryut Township court near Rangoon on June 30.
Dunkley, co-founder of the Myanmar Times and former chief executive officer, is facing charges of assault and administering drugs to a Burmese woman as well as immigration breaches.
At a court hearing earlier this month, Dunkley denied all criminal charges and immigration violations.
Dunkley was arrested on February 10 in Rangoon and spent several weeks detained at the notorious Insein Prison before being released on $11,800 bail on March 29.
Dunkley, a long-time publisher in Asia, together with Australian mining magnate Bill Clough and Bangkok-based Post Media holds a 49 per cent stake in Myanmar Consolidated Media, publisher of English and Burmese language versions of The Myanmar Times and Burmese language magazines.
David Armstrong, chairman of Post Media, said they were upbeat over an acquittal for Dunkley when the verdict is handed down on June 30.
"In any court action you can't be sure of the outcome. I think hopeful rather than confident," Armstrong said.
Armstrong pointed to the prosecutor failing to present a final argument at this week's hearing as a positive sign.
"Hopeful. The lawyer was quite clear in going through the evidence that there was no evidence that Ross had committed the crimes and therefore should be acquitted and presumption of innocence should apply," Armstrong told AAP.
News agency reports said the public prosecutor, Mone Mone, had asked the court to hand down an appropriate punishment, without setting down any specific sentence.
Dunkley had told the court the Burmese woman, Khaing Zar Lin, a reported sex worker, had been at his residence on January 19. But he told the court he had not given the woman drugs nor had he assaulted her.
Dunkley also pleaded not guilty to breaches of the Emergency Immigration Act of 1947.
Zar Lin, who is eight months pregnant, had applied to have the charges withdrawn but the request was rejected by police prosecutors.
Media analysts say the underlying story lies in Burmese government efforts to take control of the paper.
Dunkley, whose media operations have included Vietnam and Cambodia, co-founded the Myanmar Times in 2000 with the local partner Sonny Swe, the son of a senior member of the military junta's military intelligence service.
In 2005, Sonny Swe was detained and his 51 per cent stake in the paper's publishing company, Myanmar Consolidated Media (MCM) was passed to Dr Tin Htun Oo.
Dr Oo is reported to have close contacts with senior members of the government.
He was later appointed chief executive officer and editor of the Burmese language The Myanmar Times, soon after Dunkley's arrest.
Along with the The Myanmar Times, Myanmar Consolidated Media publishes two Burmese language magazines and employs more than 350 people.
Dunkley is also publisher of the Cambodia-based Phnom Penh Post after purchasing the paper in 2008.
A Burmese judge said a final decision on the 55-year-old Dunkley will be handed down at the Kamaryut Township court near Rangoon on June 30.
Dunkley, co-founder of the Myanmar Times and former chief executive officer, is facing charges of assault and administering drugs to a Burmese woman as well as immigration breaches.
At a court hearing earlier this month, Dunkley denied all criminal charges and immigration violations.
Dunkley was arrested on February 10 in Rangoon and spent several weeks detained at the notorious Insein Prison before being released on $11,800 bail on March 29.
Dunkley, a long-time publisher in Asia, together with Australian mining magnate Bill Clough and Bangkok-based Post Media holds a 49 per cent stake in Myanmar Consolidated Media, publisher of English and Burmese language versions of The Myanmar Times and Burmese language magazines.
David Armstrong, chairman of Post Media, said they were upbeat over an acquittal for Dunkley when the verdict is handed down on June 30.
"In any court action you can't be sure of the outcome. I think hopeful rather than confident," Armstrong said.
Armstrong pointed to the prosecutor failing to present a final argument at this week's hearing as a positive sign.
"Hopeful. The lawyer was quite clear in going through the evidence that there was no evidence that Ross had committed the crimes and therefore should be acquitted and presumption of innocence should apply," Armstrong told AAP.
News agency reports said the public prosecutor, Mone Mone, had asked the court to hand down an appropriate punishment, without setting down any specific sentence.
Dunkley had told the court the Burmese woman, Khaing Zar Lin, a reported sex worker, had been at his residence on January 19. But he told the court he had not given the woman drugs nor had he assaulted her.
Dunkley also pleaded not guilty to breaches of the Emergency Immigration Act of 1947.
Zar Lin, who is eight months pregnant, had applied to have the charges withdrawn but the request was rejected by police prosecutors.
Media analysts say the underlying story lies in Burmese government efforts to take control of the paper.
Dunkley, whose media operations have included Vietnam and Cambodia, co-founded the Myanmar Times in 2000 with the local partner Sonny Swe, the son of a senior member of the military junta's military intelligence service.
In 2005, Sonny Swe was detained and his 51 per cent stake in the paper's publishing company, Myanmar Consolidated Media (MCM) was passed to Dr Tin Htun Oo.
Dr Oo is reported to have close contacts with senior members of the government.
He was later appointed chief executive officer and editor of the Burmese language The Myanmar Times, soon after Dunkley's arrest.
Along with the The Myanmar Times, Myanmar Consolidated Media publishes two Burmese language magazines and employs more than 350 people.
Dunkley is also publisher of the Cambodia-based Phnom Penh Post after purchasing the paper in 2008.
