Myanmar soldiers shoot dead 2 journalists in raid on home
Bangkok, August 23, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Myanmar authorities to immediately and credibly investigate Wednesday’s killing of journalists Win Htut Oo and Htet Myat Thu in a military raid on a home in southern Mon State. “The killing of journalists Win Htut Oo and Htet Myat Thu is an atrocity against the…
Myanmar journalist Htet Aung sentenced to 5 years in prison under counterterrorism law
New York, July 2, 2024—Myanmar authorities should release journalist Htet Aung, and allow members of the press to do their jobs without fear of legal reprisal or imprisonment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On June 28, a court in Sittwe, capital of Myanmar’s Rakhine State, sentenced Htet Aung, a reporter with the Development…
Myanmar military revokes media license of Ayeyarwaddy Times
Bangkok, June 16, 2023—Myanmar’s junta regime should reverse the ban imposed on the Ayeyarwaddy Times and stop harassing local media groups over their independent news coverage, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On June 10, Myanmar military authorities revoked the Ayeyarwaddy Times’ media license for allegedly breaching Article 8 of the Publishing Act, which…
More than 15 years after his killing in Myanmar, journalist Kenji Nagai’s camera returned to family
Bangkok, April 26, 2023–More than 15 years after Japanese photojournalist Kenji Nagai was shot and killed on the streets of Yangon, Myanmar, while filming the 2007 Saffron Revolution political protests, the camera he held at the time of his death has finally been returned to his family. At a press conference Wednesday, April 26, at…
Myanmar journalist Maung Maung Myo sentenced to 6 years in prison
Bangkok, August 1, 2022 – Myanmar authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalist Maung Maung Myo and stop imprisoning members of the press on spurious charges, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On Friday, July 29, a court in the city of Hpa-an, in Kayin state, sentenced Maung Myo, a reporter for the independent Mekong News Agency, to six years in prison on…
DVB reporter Aung San Lin arrested in Myanmar
Bangkok, December 14, 2021 – Myanmar authorities must immediately release Democratic Voice of Burma reporter Aung San Lin and drop any charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At around midnight on December 11, about 20 soldiers raided Aung San Lin’s home in the village of Pin Zin, in the northwestern region…
How Myanmar became the world’s second-worst jailer of journalists
Myanmar has catapulted in the rankings of the Committee to Protect Journalists’ annual census of jailed journalists, the repressive upshot of a democracy-suspending February 1 coup that saw authorities suppress news coverage of their harsh clampdown on anti-military protesters. At least 26 journalists were imprisoned in Myanmar for their reporting as of December 1, compared with…
Myanmar prison release falls short with over 20 journalists still behind bars
Bangkok, October 25, 2021 – Myanmar’s military junta should immediately follow up its recent release of at least 15 jailed journalists by freeing all those still wrongfully held in detention, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On October 18, the country’s military government announced the release of over 5,600 prisoners in an amnesty on…
At-risk journalists who must flee home countries often find few quick and safe options
In 2018, journalist Mohammad Shubaat was in Daraa, Syria, caught between advancing forces aligned with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the closed borders of Israel and Jordan. Despite the dire threat to Shubaat and many of his colleagues, it would take over a year of intense negotiations with some 20 countries by the Committee to…
CPJ announces 2021 International Press Freedom awardees
New York, June 15, 2021–The Committee to Protect Journalists will honor four courageous journalists from Belarus, Guatemala, Mozambique, and Myanmar with the 2021 International Press Freedom Awards. All four have reported during a historically turbulent time, covering protests and political upheaval in their countries. “In the midst of a battle over the control of information,…