Newspaper boss asks acquittal the charge

@intellasia

An Australian publication entrepreneur who heads the Myanmar Times, the sole newspaper in Burma, petitioned to be dismissed from a case where he was implicated for crimes he had not done but he simply fell out of luck in his bid to open a business in a country controlled by the military.

Myanmar times co-founder, Ross Dunkley, is on trial for the assault of a 29-year old woman, for handing her drugs and causing her harm.

If he convicted he will be sentenced up to 14 years imprisonment. The judge has announced that a verdict will be given on June 30. Arrested in February, Dunkley was incarcerated in Rangoon’s Insein prison and released on bail late March.

Some note that Dunkley who is very outspoken has caught attention in the highly restrained media circles and gained disfavor with the authorities.

Defense lawyer, Aung Than Soe, asked that Dunkley be acquitted of the charges that he did not commit. An “appropriate punishment” demanding no specific sentence was asked of the court by Mone Mone, the public prosecutor.

Asking that her complaint be withdrawn, the woman Dunkley is accused of attacking, claims she is pregnant and is unable to travel.

Her request was denied. David Armstrong, a business associate in Cambodia, suggests that newspaper editor Dunkley faces a controversy in his company.