Ye Htut was arrested on charges of sending fabricated news to Burmese dissidents and opposition media abroad and sentenced to seven years in prison. Among the organizations to which Ye Htut allegedly confessed sending reports was the Thailand-based Burma Information Group (BIG), which publishes The Irrawaddy, a news magazine focusing on Burmese human-rights issues. Burma’s official media claimed that The Irrawaddy had presented a false picture of the country to foreign governments and human-rights organizations.