DMG reporter Ko Htet Aung who was arrested and imprisoned
Mizzima
Burma News International (BNI) and its member organisations denounced the Myanmar junta’s sentence of five years imprisonment given to a reporter for the Rakhine State-based Development Media Group (DMG).
DMG news reporter Ko Htet Aung and DMG Media nighttime office security guard, Ko Soe Win Aung, were both sentenced to five years in prison with hard labour under section 52 (a) of the Counter-terrorism law, on 28 June in Sittwe Township, Rakhine State.
“Taking criminal action against media workers for their work is a blatant violation of press freedom. The laws and penalties in place, as well as the arrests of media workers, are wholly unjust”, said U Ko Ko Zaw, the chairman of the BNI’s policy committee.
Since the arrest and interrogation of Ko Htet Aung and Ko Soe Win Aung, arrest warrants have been issued for 18 other DMG staff, including reporters and editors.
U Ko Ko Zaw said: “Such actions undermine the existence of independent news media, and obstruct the public’s right to access information.”
BNI also demanded the immediate release of all arrested journalists and called for an end to the crackdown on press freedom and the repression of journalists, not just in Rakhine State but nationwide.
BNI was founded in 2003 and is an umbrella news agency for 15 Myanmar ethnic news agencies based in ethnic areas throughout the country.
