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Par Gyi killing: lawyers demand official investigation

The legal team representing the widow of slain reporter Par Gyi say they plan to petition the Supreme Court to issue a writ of mandamus* ordering the Ministry of Home Affairs to lead an investigation into his untimely death, according to attorney Robert Sann Aung.

The renowned lawyer, who heads the team representing Par Gyi’s widow Ma Thandar, said they were considering the motion because the local police in Mon State’s Kyeikmayaw, with whom the case surrounding Par Gyi’s death was filed, have still not offered any sign of progress in their investigation.

“We are planning to petition the Supreme Court to order the Ministry of Home Affairs to directly handle the investigation,” he said, adding that the legal team intend issuing the call around the end of December.

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Ma Thandar previously sent a letter to President Thein Sein rejecting the report into her husband’s death compiled by the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission. She said it was “incomplete and biased”. Assuming Thein Sein does not intervene, a trial will be slated for a civilian court.

Par Gyi, a former political activist-cum-reporter, was detained by the Burmese army at the end of September in Kyeikmayaw while covering the conflict between government forces and the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army.

The army acknowledge that they killed Par Gyi, but said he was shot as he first attempted to wrestle a firearm from a soldier and then tried to flee.

But Ma Thandar and her supporters maintain that Par Gyi was brutally tortured before being killed.

 

*A writ of mandamus is an order from a court to an inferior government official ordering the government official to properly fulfill their official duties or correct an abuse of discretion.

 

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