Myanmar / Asia

Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have spent nearly five months in detention in Myanmar, on charges of violating a colonial-era Official Secrets Act. At the time of their arrest in Yangon on December 12, the reporters were investigating a mass killing of Rohingya men by Buddhist villagers and Myanmar troops that took…

New York, April 20, 2018–A prosecution witness in the case against two imprisoned Reuters journalists in Myanmar today testified that a police chief ordered officers to trap one of the reporters by handing him “secret documents” during a meeting, according to Reuters and other news reports.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Esther Htusan is no longer safe to report from her home country, Myanmar. The Associated Press reporter fled the country late last year after being threatened for her critical reporting on various topics that authorities deem sensitive, from the ethnic Rohingya refugee exodus, the military’s controversial counterinsurgency operations in Rakhine State, to…

Bangkok, January 10, 2018–Prosecutors in Myanmar today charged two Reuters reporters with violating the Official Secrets Act, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemned the criminal indictment and called on the authorities to drop the charges and release the reporters.

Amid the public discourse of fake news and President Trump’s announcement via Twitter about his planned “fake news” awards ceremony, CPJ is recognizing world leaders who have gone out of their way to attack the press and undermine the norms that support freedom of the media. From an unparalleled fear of their critics and the…

Washington, D.C., January 8, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Myanmar authorities to cease all legal proceedings and release from jail two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, whose work involved reporting on conflict-ridden Rakhine state. The two were arrested December 12 on suspicions of violating Myanmar’s colonial-era Official Secrets Act,…

Bangkok, December 13, 2017–Two Reuters reporters were arrested on Tuesday evening by police in Myanmar’s former capital of Yangon, Reuters and other news outlets reported. The Committee to Protect Journalists called today for the reporters’ immediate and unconditional release.

Bangkok, November 10, 2017–A Myanmar court today sentenced two foreign journalists who were on assignment for Turkey’s state broadcaster, along with their interpreter and driver, to two months in prison on charges of filming with a drone without official permission, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the sentencing and calls on…

Bangkok, October 30, 2017–Myanmar authorities charged two foreign reporters on assignment for Turkish state broadcaster TRT, along with their interpreter and driver, of allegedly violating import-export laws after the journalists flew a drone near the country’s parliament building, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Myanmar authorities to immediately release…

New York, September 15, 2017–Bangladeshi authorities should immediately release two Myanmar journalists who police detained on September 7 and drop all charges against them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.