Wednesday, 15 August 2007

An amnesty off the park

I'm delighted that Dumbarton was the first club in Britain to host a football match (against Forfar) dedicated to an Amnesty International campaign to release a political prisoner - one held in Burma. It happened last year, and the cause was the freedom of Ma Khin Khin Leh [pictured], a 38-year-old teacher and mother who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Myanmar in 1999, after a pro-democracy rally. The campaign was organised by local Amnesty International activist and Dumbarton supporter Tim Rhead. He said: "Myanmar is a difficult country to deal with, their human rights' record is very bad. "It is a very serious situation. We have been working for two to three years on this and are organising a national petition... Ultimately, we want the prisoner released. She knows the campaign is taking place, it is very important to keep her morale going." Dumbarton has historic connections with Myanmar. Sadly Ma Khin Khin Leh is still in jail. But you can take action here. The struggle to free her and tens of thousands of other prisoners worldwide goes on.

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