The International Press Institute (IPI) on Monday called for the immediate release of five journalists sentenced last week to spend 10 years in prison for alleged defamation and violations of Myanmar’s national security laws. The Pakokku Township Court on Thursday sentenced four reporters and the chief executive of the Unity journal to imprisonment at hard labour in response to a January 2014...
Donor countries should bring diplomatic pressure on Burma's government and reconsider their economic support for the country following Thursday's sentencing of four journalists of a magazine and the publication's chief executive to 10 years of hard labour in prison, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. The five--reporters and editors Yazar Soe, Sithu Soe, Lu Maw Naing, and Paing...
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is concerned about the state of press freedom in Myanmar as police continue to probe news publications even after the country’s Interim Press Council has called for the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Special Branch police to drop their investigation. The Special Branch intelligence unit has summoned editors of news publications to inquire about...
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the decision by Myanmar authorities to deport an Australian journalist who was covering a press freedom rally in Magwe, Central Myanmar on May 7. At the rally Angus Watson, 24, a video journalist for the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) was taking photographs and interviewing protestors as well as being interviewed by other journalists on...
A Burmese journalist was sentenced to one year in prison on April 7 on charges of "trespassing" and "disturbing an on-duty civil servant" while reporting a news story, according to local reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called for the verdict to be overturned on appeal. A court in the country's central Magwe region convicted Zaw Pe, a reporter with the Democratic Voice of...
Four journalists and a news executive in Burma were detained by police over a newspaper cover story about an alleged secret chemical weapons factory in the country's central region, according to local news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arrests and calls for the journalists' immediate and unconditional release. Lu Maw Naing, a reporter for the local-language Unity...
Ross Dunkley, founder and editor of the Myanmar Times newspaper, was convicted of assault and set free for time already spent in detention by a Burmese court on Thursday. The verdict, which carried a 30-day jail term, acquitted Dunkley of other charges viewed by many journalists as trumped up by authorities to put pressure on his news operation. The conviction represented an automatic breach of...
Press freedom and online freedom of information are still being flouted in Burma, three months after Thein Sein’s election as a civilian president. He promised to “respect the role of the media” but heavy jail sentences for journalists, suspension of newspapers and police raids on Internet cafés show that there has been no let-up in controls and intimidation. And now a string of new measures have...
(Mizzima): The Burmese junta has announced that the press censorship policy will be relaxed in accordance with the country's new Constitution, according to media reports. "The first step will be made on the day the new government takes office. But, with freedom of the press, the publications need to take responsibility," the "Flower News Journal" quoted censorship board director Tint Swe as saying...
Ross Dunkley, founder and editor of the Myanmar Times weekly newspaper, was released on bail from a Burmese prison Tuesday, according to international news reports. Dunkley, an Australian citizen arrested February 10 amid tense negotiations over the future of the weekly, had been denied several earlier requests for release on bail. Dunkley was released on 10 million kyat (US$11,780) bail because...
