TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 09/18/12 -- The Law Society of Upper Canada publicly condemned the imprisonment of human rights lawyer Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min who was recently arrested for political reasons following his return to Myanmar.

Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min fled Myanmar in 2008 under threat of imprisonment for acts undertaken in the course of defending peaceful political protesters. He returned to the country in order to participate in the historic changes taking place and was arrested for these earlier acts.

The Law Society recently sent a letter of intervention to the president of Myanmar and issued a public statement. This is the third time the Law Society has intervened in support of Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min. Previous letters to the president of Myanmar, in January 2009 and April 2012, expressed concern that Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min and other lawyers in Myanmar had been targeted with criminal sanctions and had their licences to practice law improperly revoked.

Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min's arrest occurred despite recent positive developments. Following the April 2012 intervention by the Law Society and other advocates for the rule of law, eleven of 32 lawyers disbarred for political reasons had their licences reinstated.

The Law Society regulates lawyers and paralegals in Ontario in the public interest. In support of its mandate to maintain and advance the cause of justice and the rule of law, the Law Society intervenes in cases of human rights violations that target members of the legal profession and the judiciary as a result of the discharge of their legitimate professional duties.

For more information, see previous letters of intervention and Law Society's efforts bolster rule of law in Myanmar.