London accountant describes 'hell on earth' during year in Burmese jail

'Hell on earth': the prison in Burma
EPA
Benedict Moore-Bridger9 February 2016

A London accountant held in a notorious Burmese prison for more than a year without being charged with any crime today described his detention as “hell on earth”.

Niranjan Rasalingam, 29, from Croydon, was arrested in December 2014 along with three Indian nationals on suspicion of stealing 25.2 million kyats (£13,744) using cloned ATM cards.

Rasalingam, who denies the allegations, said he had been attacked by fellow inmates while being held in “inhumane” conditions. He told the Guardian: “Life in Insein prison is hell on earth — the conditions, the corruption and the danger.

“I have paid to get a bed and bedding and friends from the UK have sent money to me to try to get a few comforts like additional food and toiletries.” He said he had been taken to different courts around the country every two weeks to be repeatedly “remanded”, thus allowing him to be legally detained for months.

Rasalingam said he was in Burma as a broker for a holiday reservation website and was looking to set up a small office. He said he knew only one of the three Indian nationals he was arrested with, through a family friend.

The four men’s legal team has argued that two of the Indians were not in Burma, also known as Myanmar, on November 16 when the crime was allegedly committed, arriving two days later. The Indian embassy is understood to have complained to the Burma foreign ministry but has not had a response.

Rasalingam said he was denied food for three days and forbidden consular access when he was first arrested.

A Foreign Office spokesman said it had “raised this case with the Burmese government on a number of occasions, setting out our concerns over his health and delays in the legal process”.

Burma’s government did not respond to a request for comment.

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