Myanmar freelance journalist Yin Yin Thein was violently arrested on November 18, 2021, by a group of 30 military and police authorities at her home in Indaw Township of Sagaing Division, according to local press reports.
Authorities confiscated her phone, laptop computer, and video camera tripods during the raid on her home, according to a Mizzimareport, which quoted an anonymous relative who witnessed the arrest.
Yin Yin Thein was detained in late 2021 at the Indaw police station on unclear charges, according to the Mizzima report and a report by the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, a local rights group.
Her arrest came in the wake of the military’s February 1, 2021, democracy-suspending coup and subsequent protests. The military junta cracked down on Myanmar’s independent media, detaining dozens of journalists.
Yin Yin Thein is a regular contributor to the local Lightning Journal and Monitor News Journal, and is a member of the Myanmar Journalists Association, the Mizzima report said.
A database compiled by the Detained Journalist Information Myanmar private Facebook group, reviewed by CPJ, confirmed in mid-September 2022 that Yin Yin Thein was still being held without charge. CPJ could not confirm where she was being detained in late 2022.
The Ministry of Information did not reply to CPJ’s emailed request for comment sent in late 2022 on her legal status, detention and health.