Burma Deports CNN Reporter Danny Rivers
The Burmese authorities on Friday deported a CNN correspondent who was officially invited to report on the anniversary of Burmese Armed Forces Day in Naypyidaw on Saturday.
Dan Rivers arrived in Rangoon on Thursday after he was granted a journalist visa to cover the annual military parade, the Deutsche Presse-Agentur news agency reported.
 |
| CNN correspondent Dan Rivers |
Rivers was reportedly approached by a government agent and taken to Rangoon’s international airport for deportation. He was reportedly not given any explanation.
Rivers was forced to leave Burma in 2008 after reporting on Cyclone Nargis while in the country on a tourist visa. Rivers, who has covered several hotspots around the world, was awarded an Amnesty International prize for his coverage of the plight of Rohingya refugees in Thailand.
The military parade in Naypyidaw is the most significant event on the Burmese military calender and regime chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe usually marks the occasion by giving keynote speeches indicating junta policies.
The military regime has recently jailed several journalists working for the exiled Burmese media.
In 2007, Reporters Without Borders ranked Burma as the world’s sixth worst violator of media freedom, after Eritrea, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Iran and Cuba.
