The manager of a military-owned factory said by a weekly journal to be making chemical weapons has asked that it be subject to an emergency decree banning trespassing, a village official has confirmed.
The request by the manager of Defence Product Factory No. 24 in Pauk Township, Magway Region, was made earlier this month, U Khin Maung Than, the administrator of nearby Hmyar Paing village, told Mizzima on March 20.
The request, for the factory to be covered by Section 144 of the Penal Code, was made to the Pauk Township administrator on March 14, U Khin Maung Than said.
If the request is granted,the trespassing ban will cover about 30,000 acres (just over 12,000 hectares), including the factory and a section of the Pauk-Kyauktu road.
After the weekly Unity Journal reported on January 25 that the factory was producing weapons, its chief executive officer and four journalists were charged with breaching the 1923 colonial-era Official Secrets Act, trespassing in a restricted area and taking photos of a Defence Ministry facility.
Their trial in the Pakkoku District Court began on February 14, the President’s Office said in a statement issued the following day.
The Deputy Information Minister and presidential spokesperson, U Ye Htut, has defended the arrests, saying the case was a defence matter and not an issue involving media freedom.
"I think the case of the Unity Journal is a matter of national security," U Ye Htut said, when asked about the case after delivering a keynote speech at the East-West Center conference in Yangon on March 10.
