(Yangon, GNB ): At least six journalists in Myanmar have been detained by authorities in Myanmar. They were covering news of the protests since the Feb. 1 military coup in Myanmar that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Six of those journalists, including Associated Press reporter Thein Zaw, have been charged with violating a public order law.
The group includes journalists for Myanmar Now, Myanmar Photo Agency, 7Day News, Zee Kwet online news, and a freelancer, AP reported.
The military seized power and ousted the elected government of leader Aung San Suu Kyi at the start of February, in a coup that reversed years of slow progress towards democracy in the south-east Asian nation, after five decades of military rule.
Protesters have since taken to the streets, but have been met with violence and bloodshed from military forces. Zaw and a handful of other journalists were arrested Saturday morning in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, the AP reported.
The six have been charged under a law that punishes anyone who causes fear among the public, knowingly spreads false news, or agitates directly or indirectly for a criminal offense against a government employee, Lawyer Tin Zar Oo, who represents Thein Zaw, said to the media.
The law was amended by the junta last month to broaden its scope and increase the maximum prison term from two years.
“We call on the military to immediately release these individuals and to cease intimidation and harassment of the media and others unjustly detained merely for doing their jobs for exercising their universal rights,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said to reporters in Washington.
Rights and press freedom groups also have demanded the journalists’ release.
The AP has called for his immediate release.
“Independent journalists must be allowed to freely and safely report the news without fear of retribution,” Ian Phillips, AP vice president for international news, said after the arrest. “AP decries in the strongest terms the arbitrary detention of Thein Zaw.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined that call.
“Myanmar authorities must release all journalists being held behind bars and stop threatening and harassing reporters for merely doing their jobs of covering anti-coup street protests,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Myanmar must not return to the past dark ages where military rulers jailed journalists to stifle and censor news reporting.”
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