Japanese Journalist Killed in Burma Protest Crackdown
Bad news out of Burma, where the military government is carrying out a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters:
The killing of Kenji Nagai was photographed by a colleague yesterday in Rangoon, Burma. The photojournalist was one of nine killed and 11 injured when the military junta ordered troops to fire into a crowd of pro-democracy demonstrators.
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets for a second day in the country’s main city, defying the government repression that has drawn international appeals for restraint.
A Japanese embassy official in Burma confirmed that Nagai, 50, who was covering the protests in Rangoon, was among those killed. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said Tokyo would lodge a protest with the junta over the killing.
Even after being shot, Nagai attempted to continue video taping the attacks on protesters.
The morning news played the video of the moment Nagai was hit, and it appears he was shot at point blank range by a Burmese soldier:
Some news commentators have speculated that his video camera may have been mistaken for a weapon, but given the proximity of the soldier who shot him, I find that very hard to believe…
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You know being back in America from a year living in Asia I try to keep up with all that goes on on that site of the world, I’ve been keeping up with the crisis in Myanmar, I felt strongly against the whole thing but this just brings it to another level. To kill an innocent man who was just recording the situation? How pathetic, not to sound all bad but it kind of reminds of the Japanese in China during WWII. None of this is new though, everyone knows majority of governments in South East Asia are BEYOND CORRUPT! The Military believes that because they hold the ammo, they control the power in most south east Asian countries. I am glad though to hear the US has taken a stance and put sanctions on the country, but the next key player in this is China, if that government doesn’t take the ability to do something, I feel like this issue will be drawn out for some time.
Disgusting. China will continue to prop up the thugs in power. Nobody else will do much at all.
It’s about time Burma got some attention. Wnder if this will get Japanese companies, with the support of the Japanese government, to stop dealing with the junta. Wonder if Bush will carry through on his threat to isolate and make a pariah of any country that deals with Burma once someone tells him that includes Japan. D’oh!
As people of Burma die in the streets, China does nothing. Sounds familiar? Only a year before the Olympics start, the PRC shows just how much it cares and just much of a leader in the world it really is. Pathetic. China is still a brain dead child playing in the mud.
Nagai is a hero. More shame on Burmese rulers. I heard on the radio that they say he was killed by a “stray bullet”. What a sad lie. A bullet that was intended to kill a Burmese civilian perhaps. It’s time for Burmese soldiers to turn their weapons on this pathetic regime and consign it to history.
It’s been time for the world to start turning its back on this retched nation. If Japanese companies want to do business with Burma, which many do, then so be it. But perhaps this situation will influence the names of those organizations to be released to the public so that they can be shamed…
I was listening to the okyoku’s speech protest in front of the embassy this morning and I think it’s the first time I’ve agreed with them… (Strange!)
Anything you need to know about the Burmese army can be seen from this guy’s footwear. Flip-flops for a soldier?? (And a three-sizes too big uniform). Looks like they’re just getting poor peasants off the rice fields and arming them.
Well…I have been to Myanmar as a traveller around 3 years ago. I could say almost every Burmese citizen, even high-level soilders and civil servants who are more wealthy, also wear flip-flop as their footwear.
I think it’s their style rather than a sign of poverty.(No pun intended)
Style is fine, but one would imagine military uniforms are supposed to be determined by practicality.
It may or may not be poverty, but it certainly seems indicative of a certain sloppiness towards what an army should be – rather, they look like a militia or some similar semi-formal group that gains power through guns. Also, perhaps they do not need real boots as they will never be fighting any enemy more threatening than civilians….
Some news reports stated that the regular military units were backed up by pro-government “vigilante” militias or paramilitary groups. This soldier could be from one.