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A reporter for BBC’s Myanmar service has been accused of assaulting a police officer after he allegedly decked him during one of several simultaneous protests on Friday in support of students detained in Letpadan.
The altercation between the BBC’s Ko Nay Myo Linn and an officer took place as protesters rode motorbikes around Mandalay demanding that the students be freed, according to the Myanmar Times. Authorities arrested more than 100 protesters in Letpadan on March 10 as they attempted to make their way to Yangon, about 90 miles to the south, to demand changes to an education bill. A local court charged nearly 70 of them last week on five counts, including rioting.
While lawmakers in Myanmar’s Upper House approved a new version of the bill with many of the students’ demands incorporated into it on Thursday, the protesters on Friday were calling for the release of those about to face trial.
In Mandalay, the police claimed that an officer was helping one of the demonstrators pick up a fallen motorbike, while students say the authorities had been knocking over bikes to break up the protest, according to the Times, which was unable to verify the whereabouts of the BBC reporter.
“A police officer helped someone pick up his motorcycle, which had got entangled with others while police forces were stopping protesting students,” the Times reported, quoting a statement by the Mandalay Region Police Force Office on Sunday. “At that time, a dispute occurred between the police and Ko Nay Myo Linn, who accused them of pushing the motorcycle over. Then he punched the policeman and injured his left eyebrow, which was bleeding.”
It is understood that he is not in custody.
During the protests on Friday, which kicked off in several cities, at least eight people were arrested, according to The Irrawaddy.
A not very revealing statement from a BBC spokesman confirmed that Nay Myo Linn was “reporting on a student demonstration on motorbikes in Mandalay on Friday. He is helping police with their inquiries following an incident involving the police and students.”
