Burmese comedian detained

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on June 6th, 2008

We still call it Burma… and we wish the news outlets would, too.

The folks who are running the show in Rangoon (the capital of Burma… and we wish they’d stop calling it Yangon!) lashed out at the media and at the citizens of Burma. They’re a little touchy because some folks were helping the victims of the cyclone (and filming them not getting any aid!) Among the folks helping out and causing trouble was a famous Burmese comedian.

The attack came after authorities detained a popular comedian who had just returned from helping survivors of the disaster and had said government aid was not reaching some victims.

That’s right– a comedian was arrested.

Well-known comedian Maung Thura– whose stage name is Zarganar– was taken from his home in Yangon by police Wednesday night after going to the Irrawaddy delta to donate relief items to survivors, his family said.[…]

Zarganar, 46, known both for his anti-government barbs and his work for cyclone victims, was taken into custody after police searched his house and confiscated some belongings. He and his team had made video records of their relief activities and Zarganar gave interviews to foreign media.

Note: This is what real government repression looks like.

Amnesty International weighed in with a strong rebuke to the ruling junta:

There’s simply no doubt this was done for political reasons … but has an extra element because it can presumed to be linked to the humanitarian assistance effort.

That’s tellin’ em!

H/T to the handful of readers who cared enough to alert us to this story. We’ll keep watching it. More about Zarangar here.

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