Myanmar photojournalist Zaw Linn Htut, a regular contributor to the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), is being held in pre-trial detention on anti-state charges of associating with a banned organization.
Zaw Linn Htut, also known as Phyo Thar, was arrested on September 19, 2024, in Yangon, the commercial capital, according to DVB editor Chan Chan, who communicated with CPJ via email. The journalist was questioned at an interrogation center for seven days and transferred to Yangon’s Insein Prison on October 10, the DVB editor said.
Zaw Linn Htut is charged under Section 17(1) of the colonial-era Unlawful Associations Act for his documentation of anti-military protests in Yangon and was being held in pre-trial detention at Insein Prison in late 2024, Chan Chan said. Maximum penalties under the provision allow for three-year prison sentences and fines.
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 March 2022, Zaw Linn Htut was convicted and sentenced to three years under Article 505(a) of the penal code, a broad provision that criminalizes incitement and the dissemination of false news the junta has used to imprison journalists. He was released in 2023, according to Chan Chan.
Zaw Linn Htut’s arrest and detention in late 2024 was confirmed by a database compiled by the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, a local rights group, and a database maintained by the Detained Journalists Information Myanmar private Facebook group, which CPJ reviewed.
The Ministry of Information did not reply to CPJ’s emailed request for comment in late 2024 on Zaw Linn Htut’s arrest, legal status, health, and situation in detention.