Burmese Court Accepts Govt Suit against Journal

21 September 2012

A court in Rangoon’s Dagon Township agreed on Thursday to accept a defamation case brought by a government ministry against The Voice Weekly for publishing a story about corruption in government. The court said the lawsuit filed by the Mines Ministry will come to trial Oct. 5. The ministry sued in March after The Voice wrote about alleged misappropriation and irregularities in the finances of the information, agriculture, industry and mines ministries from 2009-2011. The article cited a report from the auditor general’s office to parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.—AP