PEC demands release of Burmese journalist- filmmaker Shin Daewe

By Nava Thakuria

Geneva: Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), the global media safety and rights body, expresses serious concern over the imprisonment of fearless Burmese journalist- filmmaker Shin Daewe for live by the ruling military junta of Myanmar (also known as Burma and Brahmadesh) and demands her immediate release along with other over 50 jailed scribes. The award-winning documentary producer was sentenced for life imprisonment on 10 January 2024 by a military court inside Insein prison in Yangon (formerly Rangoon) on terrorism charges. Shin (50) was arrested by the Burmese soldiers  from a bus terminal in Yangon on 15 October as she was shooting videos by a drone.

Once worked as a video journalist for Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), Shin covered various socio-political issues  affecting the  southeast Asian nation. Later she developed herself as a brave  documentary filmmaker and many of her productions were honoured in international events. Her work titled Now I'm 13, which narrates the struggle of  an illiterate but intelligent young girl in central rural Myanmar endeavouring for education, received appreciation from the art connoisseurs. Her husband alleged that she has been repeatedly tortured during interrogation by the junta forces.

“It’s shocking that the military rulers have imprisoned a  lady journalist- filmmaker with the allegation of abetting terrorism in the troubled country, which is undergoing a almost civil war since the junta orchestrated  a coup   on 1  February 2021 dethroning a democratically elected government under the leadership of Nobel laureate Aung Sah Suu Kyi. The junta (identified themselves as Military Council) must unconditionally release Shin Daewe along with other  detained and imprisoned journalists,” said Blaise Lempen, president of PEC (www.pressemblem.ch).

Days back, the Independent Press Council Myanmar (IPCM) also denounced the arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of journalists by the junta in the last three months. It confirmed that  52 journalists remain unjustly incarcerated by the military council till date. The IPCM asserted its commitment to expediting the release of detained journalists promptly and also safeguarding the rights of media outlets to express their news & views freely. The council also decided to collaborate with other organizations dedicated to the safety of media workers, exerting every possible effort to secure the freedom of journalists, and prevent the recurrence of such arrests.

PEC’s south & southeast Asia representative Nava Thakuria informed that since the last military coup, the junta forces  arrested over 170 journalists and only  118 have been  released. The poverty stricken country of around 55 million population has already lost four journalists namely Pu Tuidim (founder of Khonumthung news agency), Sai Win Aung (editor of  Federal News Journal) along with  Soe Naing and Aye Kaw (both were freelance photojournalists) to junta atrocities since the coup day in different occasions.