The reality, as captured by Burmese photographer Minzayar Oo, is that as Burma emerges from a half-century of military dictatorship, with landmark general elections on Sunday, this precious stone is all about the Southeast Asian nation’s enduring misery.
Photo agency Panos reports that Minzayar Oo and Hkun Lat have been denied bail, and the agency has called on authorities to release both men immediately.
Photographer Minzayar Oo, who was reporting on the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh on assignment for GEO magazine, was detained with his assistant Hkun Lat on September 7, according to Oo’s agency, Panos Pictures. The two men have been accused of espionage. Police say the journalists entered the country on tourist visas rather than journalist visas, and are charging the pair with “false impersonation” and providing false information, according to a report by the Daily Mail. Panos reports that Oo and Lat have been denied bail, and the agency has called on authorities to release both men immediately.