YANGON – The body of a journalist killed by the Myanmar army in October showed signs that he was badly beaten and possibly tortured, the wife’s lawyer said on Thursday after witnessing the reporter’s exhumation.
The lawyer, Robert Aung, saw the exhumation of Kyaw Naing along with the reporter’s wife, Than Dar, as well as journalists, activists and members of a human rights commission investigating the death.
“There are blood marks on both sides of his chest, on his skin. His skull is broken and his jaw was completely smashed.
“Photographs of the body appear to corroborate the observations.
“I believe the post-mortem will show torture but they did not tell us the answer yet,’’ he told newsmen.
Aung said that the journalist’s wife also told the public it was murder, that he was tortured and murdered.
Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission said that it is investigating the death of Kyaw Naing, also known as Ko Par Gyi.
The army said that he had been killed in army custody in the country’s south-east, where he was reporting on clashes between government troops and ethnic rebels.
The army maintained Kyaw Naing was working for a Karen insurgent group, and was shot on Oct. 4 after he tried to grab a soldier’s weapon.
The body was taken from a shallow grave in Kyaikmayaw Township to the hospital in the Mon state capital, Mawlamyine.
Activist Naw Hla, who also saw the body, said that she saw signs of beating and bullet wounds.
“We all are waiting for the result of the post-mortem and to see how the government takes responsibility for this case,’’ she said. (dpa/NAN)