- Web Master
- February 08, 2023
NJ THAKURIA
Geneva: Press Emblem Campaign (https://pressemblem.ch/pec-ne
scribes, who were sent to jails after the infamous military coup on 1 February 2021.
Local media outlets in Yangon (Rangoon), the former capital city of Myanmar, reported that three
journalists were imprisoned in the third week
of March 2022 for covering the anti-junta demonstrations across the south-east Asian nation. The number
of arrested (or detained)
media workers in Myanmar has lately increased up to 125, while around 50 are still behind the bars.
All the three Burmese journalists namely Than Htike Aung (Mizzima), Han Thar Nyein (Kamayut) and Ye Yint
Tun (Myanmar Herald) were imprisoned
to two years each for allegedly preparing false news. Aung, who is associated with the Mizzima
group, was arrested on 19 March 2021.
Similarly, Nyein, who co-founded Kamayut news outlet, was arrested on 9 March. Tun from the
Myanmar Herald digital platform was arrested
on 28 February last year.
“The military regime in Naypietaw has treated the journalists as its enemy, while the media workers are
doing their job only. The Burmese generals
must respect the scribes and facilitate them to perform duties without fear and trepidation,” said Blaise Lempen, the president of PEC, adding that the
international community should also pay
attention to the hardship faced by journalists in Myanmar.
PEC’s south-east Asia representative Nava Thakuria informed that the military junta has already cancelled
the permits of Mizzima, Democratic
Voice of Burma, Myitkyina News Journal, Myanmar Now, 7Day News, Khit Thit News, etc. Now they are
operating from outside the
country to avoid arrests. A large number of journalists are hiding in neighbouring countries like Thailand,
Bangladesh and India to continue working
as newsmen.