Myanmar journalist Min Theik Tun, a photographer with the Regional News Agency, is serving a 12-year sentence for terrorism, a charge Myanmar’s military regime has used broadly to stifle independent news reporting since staging a democracy-suspending coup in 2021.
Min Theik Tun was arrested on December 12, 2021, in Monywa, Sagaing Division along with 11 others while covering a protest in the area, according to multiple news reports, social media posts, and a database compiled by the Detained Journalists Information Myanmar (DJIM) private Facebook Group, which CPJ reviewed.
He was later released and arrested again under unclear circumstances on April 11, 2022, according to databases compiled by the rights group the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP) and the DJIM.
The journalist’s arrest came in the wake of the military’s February 1, 2021, 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.
A court in Monywa sentenced him to 12 years in prison on August 7, 2023, under the Counter Terrorism Law, according to the AAPP’s database, which CPJ reviewed in October 2023.
Regional News Agency did not reply to CPJ’s messages sent through Facebook requesting comment on Min Theik Tun’s status in October 2023. CPJ could not confirm in late 2023 where Min Theik Tun was being detained.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Information did not reply to CPJ’s October 2023 emailed request for comment on Min Theik Tun’s conviction, legal status, health, and situation in detention.