Britain’s former ambassador to Myanmar Vicky Bowman and her husband, prominent artist Ko Htein Lin, who were sent to Insein Prison after their arrests on Thursday, have been returned to two local police stations, according to sources close to the family.
They said the couple have been held separately at two police stations since Thursday night and have been visited by relatives.
Other sources said both Ko Htein Lin and Bowman were sent back to the police stations because they were suspected of having COVID-19.
The couple were arrested on Wednesday night at their home in Yangon. The regime said they would be charged with breaching the country’s immigration laws.
The couple has been remanded in custody for two weeks, and an initial court hearing is expected to be held on Sept. 6.
The arrests come at a time when Britain has imposed fresh sanctions against three military-linked companies for supplying arms to the Myanmar military.
Bowman is among three foreigners currently detained by the regime, along with Australian economist Sean Turnell, a former economic policy adviser to ousted Myanmar leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and Japanese videographer Toru Kubota.
Turnell was arrested after the coup last year and faces charges of possessing state secrets. Kubota has been in jail since July, accused of incitement and violating visa and other immigration rules for his alleged connections with anti-regime protesters, according to the junta’s Information Ministry.
