Freedom with limits in Burma
When President Thein Sein pardoned over 300 political prisoners last week in Burma, CPJ reported that at least nine journalists were among those released. Since then, the exile-run Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) has announced that all of its jailed reporters, including a group of eight who had remained anonymous, are now free.
In mass amnesty, nine journalists released in Burma
Bangkok, January 13, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of nine journalists who were freed as part of a mass release of at least 600 political prisoners in Burma on Friday, but calls on President Thein Sein to release reporters still being held in detention and to implement press reforms that would end…
Press freedom requires action, not talk, in Burma
Burma’s newly installed democratic government has sent tentative signals that it intends to allow for more media openness as the country transitions from military to civilian rule. The continued detention of more than 2,100 political prisoners, including as many as 25 journalists, however, belies President Thein Sein’s recent press-promoting pronouncements.
Attacks on the Press 2010: Burma
Top Developments • Junta bars foreign reporters, censors speech prior to national election. • Aung San Suu Kyi freed, but government still jails journalists, critics. Key Statistic 13: Journalists imprisoned as of December 1, the fourth‐highest figure in the world. After nearly five decades of uninterrupted military rule, Burma moved toward an uncertain new era…
Attacks on the Press 2004: Burma
Burma Although Burma’s authoritarian military rulers proposed a “road map” to democracy in 2004, neither the Burmese people nor its press saw many positive results. On the contrary, conditions for journalists deteriorated, with hard-liners tightening their grip on power inside the government and cracking down further on Burma’s official media and the few remaining independent…
2001 prison census: 118 journalists jailed
There were 118 journalists in prison around the world at the end of 2001 who were jailed for practicing their profession. The number is up significantly from the previous year, when 81 journalists were in jail, and represents a return to the level of 1998, when 118 were also imprisoned.