Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Police deny farmers right to protest at Yuzana Hotel

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Wednesday, 29 August 2012 17:52 Aung Myat Tun

Rangoon (Mizzima) – Police at the Bahan Township Police Station have refused to grant a protest permit to farmers seeking to stage a demonstration at the Yuzana Hotel in Rangoon.

The farmers are protesting land confiscation in Hukaung Valley in Kachin State by the Yuzana company and the military, according to activist Bauk Ja.

Activist Bauk Ja, center Photo: facebook / Jingpaw Kasa

The township police chief denied permission to stage a protest in front of the Yuzana Hotel on Shwegondine Road in Bahan Township in Rangoon, Bauk Ja said.

She said the police chief said he denied permission because it is a busy road. If they [farmland owners] want to stage a protest at another suitable location for not more than two hours, he said he would give permission, she said.

Bauk Ja and farm owners applied for a protest permit at the Bahan Township Police Station on August 25. The chief said that the right to stage a protest is subject to time and place restrictions. He also said there were restrictions on using a photograph of the Yuzana Company’s owner in the demonstration.

About 50 farmers will stage a protest at 11 a.m. on Thursday in accord with their plan, said Bauk Ja. 

Since 2007, the Burmese army and the Yuzana Company have jointly confiscated a total of 1,038 acres (420 hectares) owned by farmers in Aungra, Sharuzuap, Bangkok, Namsan and Warazuap villages in Hukaung Valley in Hpakant Township, according to the farmer’s group.

Htay Myint, the owner of the Yuzana Company, is a Lower House MP from Myeik Township in Tanintharyi Region. He owns palm oil gardens, construction businesses, a hotel, fish and prawn farming businesses and the Southern Myanmar Football Club in the Myanmar National League.

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