Vicky Bowman, in office between 2002 and 2006, was arrested on Wednesday for failing to declare that she no longer lived at the address under which she was officially registered as a foreigner, the ruling junta announced on Thursday in a communicated.
Her husband, the Burmese artist Htein Lin, a former political prisoner between 1998 and 2004, was also arrested for having helped his wife to reside at an address other than that under which she was registered, still according to the official press release.
The couple, accused of thus violating the immigration code – an offense punishable by a maximum of five years in prison, were transferred to Insein prison in Yangon, according to an informed source, who added that a court hearing was scheduled for September 6.
The country has been in the throes of a violent conflict since the February 1, 2021 coup, and arrests number in the thousands. Relations between Burma and Great Britain, the former colonial power, deteriorated markedly after the junta took power.
“We are concerned about the arrest of a Briton in Burma,” a spokesperson for the British embassy told AFP, without quoting Ms. Bowman by name.
“We are in contact with the local authorities and we are providing the necessary consular assistance,” he continued.
Asked about the subject, a spokesman for the junta did not respond to requests from AFP.
– A provocation –
“This is a provocation on the part of the regime. Vicky and Htein Lin are highly respected personalities who have contributed a lot to Burma for decades. The fact that Vicky is a former ambassador adds to the seriousness of the matter”, reacted to AFP Richard Horsey, Burma expert with the International Crisis Group (ICG).
Vicky Bowman has led the Center for Responsible Economy in Myanmar (MCRB) since July 2013. She also served as Second Secretary at the British Embassy in Burma between 1990 and 1993, before becoming Ambassador. She is fluent in Burmese.
She married in 2006 Htein Lin, whose works made in prison, with material smuggled in, had captured the attention of the ambassador.
The painter had been detained because of his opposition to the junta of the time. As a student, he also took part in the August 1988 uprising.
Since the coup that overthrew civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the ruling army has been waging a bloody crackdown on its opponents, with more than 2,100 civilians killed and nearly 15,000 arrested, according to a local NGO.
Relations between Burma and the United Kingdom have deteriorated since the military coup.
The junta qualified at the beginning of the year as “unacceptable” the reorganization of the diplomatic representation in Burma of the United Kingdom, which no longer sends an ambassador to Yangon, but a temporary charge d’affaires – to whom the authorities have barred access to the country.
London announced on Thursday, the fifth anniversary of the start of the army’s bloody abuses against the Rohingyas, new sanctions against several companies and people linked to the junta.
Several foreigners are being held in Burma, including Japanese Toru Kubota, the fifth journalist to be arrested since the coup – the others have all been released and expelled from the country.