Chiang Mai – The Burmese censorship board on Tuesday permitted the Rangoon-based 'Myanmar Nation Journal' to recommence publication, after being banned for a month.

 

The 'Myanmar Nation Journal', which rented a publishing license from an individual named Myat Soe, was banned by the Burmese censorship board on February 18.

 

However the Burmese censorship board, yesterday, once again permitted the journal to be printed after license owner Myat Soe agreed to take over publication.

 

"So, it will not be renting the license from Myat Soe. Rather the publication will see Myat Soe himself joining the editorial staff. And in some cases he will directly lead the publication," a source close to the Burmese weekly told Mizzima.

 

On February 15, authorities, during a raid on the journal's headquarters, found a report by UN Human Rights expert Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, a book titled Let Us Build an Unbroken Union by ethnic Shan leader Shwe Ohn and a Video CD of September's Saffron Revolution.

 

Following the raid, Editor-in-Chief Thant Zin and Manager Sein Win Maung were arrested, charged and ultimately detained in Burma's notorious Insein prison, where they remain to date. At this time the journal was also banned from publication.

 

"After the editor and manager were arrested, the [authorities] ordered the journal to stop publication and even banned the distribution of previous issues of the journal. Then, when the authorities decided to again allow publication, the editor's wife could not handle editorial tasks alone, so at this point Myat Soe came on board and assisted, with others, in the publication," added the source close to the journal.