Myanmar journalist Shin Daewe is serving a life sentence on charges of illegal possession of an unregistered drone, a criminal offense under the Anti-Terrorism Law.
Shin Daewe was arrested on October 15, 2023, while picking up a video drone she had ordered online to use for filming a documentary, according to a U.S. Congress-funded Voice of America (VOA) report quoting her husband Ko Oo.
Police interrogated the journalist for nearly two weeks before charging her and transferring her to Yangon’s Insein Prison, Ko Oo told VOA. Shin Daewe was tried by a secret military tribunal and was denied legal representation during the proceedings, the VOA report said.
On January 10, 2024, Shin Daewe was convicted under Section 50(j) of the Anti-Terrorism Law, a provision that allows for life sentences for financing terrorist activities.
Ko Oo told the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Asia (RFA) that Shin Daewe appeared to have been beaten during police interrogations, based on reports he received saying that she had stitches on her head and welts on her arms.
Shin Daewe, a former reporter with the local media group Democratic Voice of Burma and a regular freelance contributor to RFA, is known for her documentary coverage of environmental issues and the toll that armed conflict has taken on the country’s civilians, according to news reports.
Shin Daewe did not appear on the 2023 prison census because CPJ could not confirm she was still working as a journalist at the time of her arrest. She was being held at Insein Prison in late 2024, according to Tamara Bralo, director of newsroom safety and risk management at Radio Free Asia.
The Ministry of Information did not reply to CPJ’s emailed request for comment in late 2024 on Myo Myint Oo’s conviction, alleged abuse during interrogation, sentencing, health, and treatment in prison.