Myanmar junta jails journalist for life in ongoing crackdown
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Myanmar is one of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists with 62 detained, according to Reporters Without Borders.
PHOTO: AFP
YANGON – A military court in Myanmar has jailed a journalist for life and sentenced another to 20 years in prison after convicting them under a counter-terrorism law, their editor said on Aug 29.
Myo Myint Oo and Aung San Oo, who work for the independent online news service Dawei Watch, were sentenced after being denied the right to legal defence and not being allowed to speak in court, editor Ko Kyaw told AFP.
Since overthrowing Ms Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government
The two journalists were arrested at their homes in the coastal town of Myeik, about 560km south of Yangon, on Dec 11.
Myo Myint Oo, 40, was handed a life sentence on May 15, while Aung San Oo, 49, was handed a 20-year jail term on Feb 16.
They were “violently interrogated” for four days in a detention centre before being transferred to the Myeik prison, a statement from Dawei Watch said.
Mr Ko Kyaw said he learnt about the sentences earlier in 2024 but delayed announcing them for the security of the journalists’ families, without providing further details.
The court has not given a detailed explanation of the case, he said.
Myanmar is now one of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists with 62 detained, second only to China, according to the Paris-based campaign group Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Myanmar ranks 171 out of 180 in RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index.
In September 2023, a Myanmar journalist was jailed for 20 years after being indicted on several charges, including breaching a natural disaster law and a telecommunications law while covering the aftermath of a deadly cyclone.
Several foreign journalists have been detained, including US citizen Danny Fenster
