Myanmar arrests former British ambassador
Pete Vowles, Britain’s former chargé d’affaires in Myanmar, said last month he was pressured by the military junta to leave the country after refusing to recognize the legitimacy of last year’s coup.
Myanmar’s military junta has detained the former British ambassador and her husband for allegedly violating immigration laws.
A spokesman for Myanmar’s military junta said Monday that former British ambassador Vicky Bowman and her husband Htein Lin are being accused of violating immigration laws by staying at the wrong address.
The two were arrested while staying at their home in Yangon city and were transferred to Insein prison.
Bowman, 56, served as Britain’s ambassador to Myanmar from 2002 to 2006.
She is currently the director of the Myanmar Responsible Business Center (MCRB), a non-governmental organization specializing in trade promotion in the country.
Htein Lin is a well-known artist and served as a political prisoner from 1998 to 2004, when myanmar’s military took power.
A Foreign Office spokesman said officials were “concerned about the detention of a British woman” and were providing consular assistance.
