Lwin Than Htike, a reporter with the local Burma VJ news outlet, was arrested in September 2023 and is being detained on undisclosed charges in Yangon.
Burma VJ is a multimedia network of citizen and professional journalists that covers politics, conflict, and human rights in Myanmar. Lwin Than Htike, also known as Than Htike, covers politics, human rights, and conflict for the independent news organization.
His arrest came in the wake of the military’s February 1, 2021, democracy-suspending coup and subsequent protests. Since then, the military junta has engaged in an ongoing crackdown on Myanmar’s independent media, detaining and sentencing dozens of journalists.
In the late afternoon of September 1, 2023, Lwin Than Htike was arrested at his home in Yangon, according to Burma VJ editor Aung Htun, who communicated with CPJ via messaging app, and a database compiled by the Detained Journalists Information Myanmar private Facebook group, which CPJ reviewed. Lwin Than Htike’s Burma VJ colleague, Aung Chan Thar, was arrested on the same day.
Lwin Than Htike was transferred to a police station about two weeks after an initial investigation period and had not yet been charged with any crime as of mid-November, Aung Htun said.
As of late 2023, the Myanmar Ministry of Information did not reply to CPJ’s emailed request for comment on Lwin Than Htike’s arrest and legal status.