BANGKOK – A military court in Myanmar has given a life prison sentence to a local journalist and sentenced one of his colleagues to 20 years after convicting them under a counterterrorism law, their editor said Wednesday.
The sentences for Myo Myint Oo and Aung San Oo of the independent online news service Dawei Watch appear to be the most severe dealt to any journalist since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. The takeover triggered armed resistance and an ongoing civil war.
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Myanmar is one of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists, second only to China, according to the Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders, which ranks it near the bottom of its Press Freedom Index at 171st of 180 countries.
Last week, two freelance journalists in Myanmar were killed, one allegedly after being captured, when security forces raided the home of one of them in the southern state of Mon. Several local resistance fighters were also killed.
Dawei Watch’s Myo Myint Oo, 41, and Aung San Oo, 49, were arrested separately last December at their homes in the coastal town of Myeik, about 560 kilometers (350 miles) south of Yangon, three days after returning from hiding.
The military government hasn't commented on their cases.
Kyaw San Min, the chief editor of Dawei Watch media, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Aung San Oo was initially sentenced to 20 years in prison by a military court in Myeik prison in February and Myo Myint Oo was handed a life sentence by the same court in May, but he was unable to learn further details.
He said both men were convicted under Myanmar’s Counterterrorism Law, but the circumstances were not clear. The law punishes acts of violence and “acts of exhortation, persuasion, propaganda and recruitment of any person to participate in any terrorist group or activities of terrorism.”
Kyaw San Min said the information about the sentences had been been received some time ago but he withheld it until now, when the security of the men’s family members had been secured. He did not elaborate.
“The sentences imposed on the two journalists are quite severe. Sentencing the journalists with such large penalties is very unjust,” the editor said.
Kyaw San Min said a total of five reporters and a columnist from Dawei Watch have been arrested since the army began cracking down on independent media after its seizure of power. Three of the journalists have been released.
Most media outlets, including Dawei Watch, now operate semi-clandestinely, publishing online as staff members try to avoid arrest. Others operate from exile.
Dawei Watch released a statement on its Facebook page on Tuesday saying it strongly condemned the military government for illegally arresting, interrogating and detaining the journalists without giving them the right to fair defense under the law.
“We urge their immediate release,” it said.
The statement said the security forces told Myo Myint Oo and Aung San Oo they were being detained because of their reporting. Their laptops and phones were seized.
The two were beaten during four days in a detention center before being transferred to prison, the statement said. The AP and others have reported how some detainees are tortured after their arrests.
“These types of extreme court rulings aim to instill fear among all reporters and will have a chilling effect across Myanmar’s independent media," Shawn Crispin, Southeast Asia representative for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, said in an emailed statement.
At least seven media workers in Myanmar have been killed and others tortured while in detention since the military takeover, according to media workers in Myanmar who track the situation. They say at least 15 media outlets have had their licenses revoked and at least 172 journalists have been arrested, with about 40 to 50 still detained and half of those convicted and sentenced.
Most of the detained journalists were charged with incitement for allegedly causing fear, spreading false news or agitating against a government employee or for violating the Counterterrorism Law.