YANGON: Myanmar authorities have arrested Britain’s former ambassador to the country and her husband, a prominent artist and one-time political prisoner, for allegedly violating immigration laws, the junta said on Thursday.
Vicky Bowman, who served as envoy from 2002 to 2006, was detained for failing to declare she was living at an address different from the one listed on her foreigner’s registration certificate, a junta statement said.
Her husband Htein Lin was arrested for helping his wife reside at an address different to their registered home in commercial hub Yangon, it added.
A spokesperson for the British embassy in Yangon said they were “concerned by the arrest of a British woman in Myanmar”, without mentioning Bowman by name.
“We are in contact with the local authorities and are providing consular assistance,” they said.
A source with knowledge of the matter said Bowman and Htein Lin had been taken to Yangon’s Insein prison. A hearing had been set for September 6, although it was not known what would take place then, the source added. Breaching immigration law carries a maximum of five years in prison. A junta spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.
Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2022
