Police to exhume body of slain Myanmar journalist
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Yangon (dpa) - Myanmar police will exhume the body of journalist killed last month while in military custody as part of an investigation into the death, an official told dpa Tuesday.
Aung Kyaw Naing was detained on September 30 while reporting on fighting between government troops and ethnic Karen rebels in Kyeik Mayaw Township, Mon State, in the south-east of the country.
After his wife publicly appealed for information, the army said he was shot dead on October 4 while attempting to escape, and buried.
The military said the freelance reporter was in fact working as a communications officer for the political wing of armed group the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army.
His wife, Than Dar, has strongly denied any connection.
Following widespread calls for an investigation, the office of President Thein Sein on October 30 announced that it had ordered the National Human Rights Commission to probe the death.
Than Dar was to attend the exhumation Wednesday along with a lawyer, an official at the Kyeik Mayaw Township police station said, on condition of anonymity.
Supporters of Aung Kyaw Naing suspect that the journalist may have died after being tortured in custody.
"I will try to see and take photos of his body for evidence because this is a crime," said Robert Sann Aung, the lawyer assisting Than Dar, adding that the body would be returned to Yangon for reburial.
