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Myanmar - The verdict against Min Nyo "shows the terrifying situation journalists find themselves in"

Photo: Protests in Myanmar

 

The World Daily | News Desk           MAY  14th   2021

 

A court in Myanmar, ruled by the military junta, sentenced a journalist of the independent radio and television broadcaster Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) to three years in prison, his employer said, quoted by Kyodo.

Min Nyo, 51, was arrested on March 3 as he covered a protest in Pegu, in the central part of the country, against the February 1 military coup. He was charged with inciting social unrest. The verdict was delivered on Wednesday. DVB was stripped of its broadcasting license on March 8 and banned from reporting on any platform but continued to broadcast messages on the suppression of democracy by troops from neighbouring countries such as Thailand.

Amnesty International's (AI) Emerlynne Gil said in a statement that the Min Nyo sentence "shows the terrifying situation facing journalists in Myanmar, where they risk their lives and freedom to shed light on the abuses of the military."

"Min Nyo's conviction must be overturned, and he himself should be released immediately, along with all other journalists, activists and human rights defenders imprisoned and detained solely for peacefully opposing a military coup," she called.

 

Although the services have arrested one journalist after another since the Myanmar coup, it seems this is the first time that a sentence has been passed, Kyodo reports. The military intensified the repression of the press. According to the Reporting ASEAN online portal, 80 journalists have been detained. Among them is 45-year-old Japanese freelance journalist Yuki Kitazumi who has been charged with spreading "fake news".

On May 9, Thai authorities arrested three DVB Min Nyo colleagues along with two activists in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand for illegal entry into the country. Both AI and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on Thailand not to deport them back to Burma.

 

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