Myanmar Now photojournalist Sai Zaw Thaike sentenced to 20 years in prison on multiple charges
Bangkok, September 6, 2023—Myanmar authorities should release photojournalist Sai Zaw Thaike and stop imprisoning members of the press for doing their jobs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Wednesday, September 6, a military tribunal in Yangon’s Insein Prison sentenced Sai Zaw Thaike to 20 years in prison with hard labor on various charges,…
Myanmar sentences The Irrawaddy publisher Thaung Win to 5 years prison for sedition
Bangkok, July 3, 2023 – Myanmar’s military authorities must immediately release Thaung Win, stop persecuting journalists for their work, and let the independent news outlet The Irrawaddy operate freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On June 28, the Western Yangon District Court sentenced Thaung Win, The Irrawaddy’s publisher, to five years in prison…
Myanmar military revokes media license of Ayeyarwaddy Times
Bangkok, June 16, 2023—Myanmar’s junta regime should reverse the ban imposed on the Ayeyarwaddy Times and stop harassing local media groups over their independent news coverage, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On June 10, Myanmar military authorities revoked the Ayeyarwaddy Times’ media license for allegedly breaching Article 8 of the Publishing Act, which…
Imprisoned Myanmar journalist sentenced to additional 10 years on terror charge
Bangkok, May 30, 2023—Myanmar authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Hmu Yadanar Khet Moh Moh Tun and stop imprisoning members of the press for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On May 26, Yangon’s Thingangyun District Court convicted Moh Moh Tun, a reporter for the independent Myanmar Pressphoto Agency, and sentenced her to 10 years…
More than 15 years after his killing in Myanmar, journalist Kenji Nagai’s camera returned to family
Bangkok, April 26, 2023–More than 15 years after Japanese photojournalist Kenji Nagai was shot and killed on the streets of Yangon, Myanmar, while filming the 2007 Saffron Revolution political protests, the camera he held at the time of his death has finally been returned to his family. At a press conference Wednesday, April 26, at…
On 2-year anniversary of military coup, Myanmar’s junta must stop persecuting journalists
Bangkok, February 1, 2023 — On the second anniversary of the military’s seizure of power in Myanmar, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement demanding the junta regime immediately and unconditionally release all of the journalists targeted in the post-coup crackdown: “Over the last two years, press freedom conditions in Myanmar have deteriorated…
Myanmar sentences 8 journalists to years in prison, releases 6 others
Bangkok, January 11, 2023 – Myanmar’s military regime must stop arbitrarily imprisoning journalists and should allow independent media groups to report the news without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. In December, Myanmar courts sentenced at least eight independent journalists to prison terms ranging from three to 10 years, according to…
Forensic tools open new front for using phone data to prosecute journalists
On April 13, police in Russia’s Khakassiya republic arrested Mikhail Afanasyev and seized his digital devices. Afanasyev, chief editor of the online magazine Novy Fokus, was detained based on an article about riot police in southern Siberia refusing to serve in Ukraine. He faces a possible 10-year prison sentence for spreading “false” information. It’s not surprising for…
Number of jailed journalists spikes to new global record
The number of journalists jailed around the world set yet another record in 2022. In a year marked by conflict and repression, authoritarian leaders doubled down on their criminalization of independent reporting, deploying increasing cruelty to stifle dissenting voices and undermine press freedom. Published December 14, 2022 By Arlene Getz/CPJ Editorial Director Worst Offenders |…
Myanmar’s jailing of journalists enters harsh new phase
Myanmar’s military regime has doubled down on its repression of journalists as it tightens it grip on the country following its democracy-crushing coup on February 1, 2021. After arresting scores of journalists to block coverage of its abuses and resistance to the takeover, its second year in power saw the handing down of harsh prison…