Police Hunt for Killer of Publisher Who Criticized Former Regime

By Htun Htun 19 April 2017

RANGOON — Police are searching for clues to identity the killer of a weekly news magazine publisher in Rangoon’s Pazundaung Township.

Ko Wai Yan Heinn, 27, the publisher and editor of Iron Rose, was found dead with 15 stab wounds in the chest and abdomen on Sunday at the journal’s office in Pazundaung’s Ward 2.

According to front-page images available online, the journal was critical of generals of Burma’s former junta and their affiliated businesspeople.

The exact date of the murder is unclear as the body was only found after neighbors noticed the stench and contacted the police.

“Forensic tests have not finished yet, so we can’t release the details,” a police officer in Pazundaung Police Station told The Irrawaddy.

U Zayar Hlaing of the Myanmar Journalist Network said, “We have not yet discussed releasing a statement because we still don’t know what happened.”

Police have opened a murder case under Article 302 of Burma’s Penal Code.

Last December, Ko Soe Moe Tun, 36, an Eleven Media Group journalist who reported on the controversial Chinese-backed Letpadaung copper mining project, illegal logging and farmland confiscation, was beaten to death in Monywa Township, Sagaing Division.

Police are yet to find a suspect four months after his murder.