Myat Thu Tan, a contributor to the local Western News who also had reported for several other media outlets, was shot and killed on January 31, 2024, while in military custody in the town of Mrauk-U in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State, according to news reports and Western News editor-in-chief Wunna Khwar Nyo, who spoke with CPJ.
The journalist’s body was found along with six other political detainees buried in a bomb shelter in the Light Infantry Battalion 378’s camp after it was overrun on February 5 by the insurgent Arakan Army, which is fighting military forces in the area. Those sources said the bodies, including Myat Thu Tan’s, showed signs of torture.
Myat Thu Tan, also known as Phoe Thiha, was arrested at his home in Mrauk-U on September 22, 2022, and held in pre-trial detention under Section 505(a) of the penal code, a broad provision that criminalizes incitement and the dissemination of false news, for critical posts he made on his Facebook page, according to The Irrawaddy and Wunna Khwar Nyo.
Myat Thu Tan was denied family visits while held at Mrauk-U Prison and had not been tried or convicted at the time of his death, Wunna Khwar Nyo told CPJ. The journalist was transferred with the other detainees to the Light Infantry Battalion 378 camp before they were killed, Wunna Khwar Nyo said.
Military authorities have not moved to investigate or pursue justice for Myat Thu Tan’s killing, Wunna Khwar Nyo told CPJ in mid-September.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Information did not reply to CPJ’s emails requesting comment on CPJ’s classification of Myat Thu Tan’s killing as a targeted murder.