Journalists Aung San Oo (left) and Myo Myint Oo (right) of Myanmar news outlet Dawei Watch
Mizzima
Two journalists from Dawei Watch who were arrested on 11 December were moved to Myeik Police Station on 14 December.
Aung San Oo and Myo Myint Oo were arrested in Dawei on the night of 11 December. Following interrogation, they were transferred to Myeik Police Station on 14 December, according to police sources. So far, none of their family members have been able to see them.
Aung San Oo’s wife said: “Both of them were brought to the police station, but I have not been permitted to see my husband. I was only allowed to provide him with necessities such as food and clothing.”
Though they were abused during their interrogation they are in a stable condition, according to their family members.
Myo Myint Oo’s mother said, “I have not received any communication from Myo Myint Oo. The last information I had was that he was at the police station. I am anxious and eager to see him.”
The military told the journalists’ families that they were arrested in connection with their reporting. Laptops and phones were also seized from their houses at the time of their arrests. It is not known which law they are being charged under.
Mizzima tried to contact Thant Zin, the Tanintharyi Regional Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, and Colonel Khin Kyaw, the regional police chief about the case on 18 December, but neither responded.
Kyaw San Min, the editor-in-chief of the Dawei Watch News Agency said that he hopes the two journalists will soon be released and stressed that Dawei Watch follows journalistic ethics in all its reporting.
He also said that previously, at the beginning of 2022, three other journalists working for Dawei Watch were arrested, but they were all released within a few days.
Since the February 2021 coup, in Myanmar, four journalists have been killed, hundreds have been arrested and 68 are still in prison, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
