Myanmar inmates skirt justice with longyi jailbreak

Yangon: Police in southern Myanmar were on Monday hunting six men who broke out of jail using their longyi, a type of local sarong, as ropes to climb down from the roof.

The group has been on the run since Saturday night when they managed to escape from prison in Kawkareik Township in the southern state of Karen.

“The police managed to arrest one on the night of the escape, but the other six inmates are still free,” Kyi Lin, head of the Karen state police, told AFP.

“They used their longyi as ropes to escape from the prison by climbing over the roof.” Police have filed a new charge against the escapees for “obstructing apprehension”.

A longyi is a type of traditional cylindrical printed cloth, normally cotton, worn wrapped around the waist and then tied into a knot.

They are worn by both men and women in Myanmar, though the women’s designs tend to be more tightly fitted and to have floral designs.

Meanwhile, police in Myanmar have arrested a newspaper’s chief editor and a columnist for allegedly defaming the military by publishing an article mocking its role in the country’s efforts to reach a peace agreement with fractious minority groups. A lawyer for The Voice Daily editor Kyaw Min Swe said on Monday that the two were not released after being called in for questioning Friday over a lawsuit filed by the military under the country’s Telecommunications Law.

 The lawyer, Khin Maung Myint, said the trial of the editor and columnist Ko Ko Maung would begin Thursday. (Agencies)