Burma

25 October 2007

Urgent action needed for media workers detained and missing in Burma

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is outraged at the continued detention of six journalists in Burma and is concerned for the safety of a photographer who has been missing since early October. IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said she is very concerned that journalists have been targeted in the latest crackdown on anti-government protests in Burma. Despite the UN General...

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28 September 2007

Evidence emerges of intentional shooting of Japanese cameraman in Burma

There is worldwide outrage at the apparently deliberate fatal shooting of Japanese cameraman Kenji Nagai by a Burmese soldier on Thursday. Video footage shown on Japan’s Fuji News Network has revealed that Nagai, who was filming near a group of demonstrators in Yangon, was pushed to the ground and shot at near point-blank range. The Japanese embassy in Burma said the bullet entered Nagai’s body...

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27 September 2007

Burma: Soldiers raid hotels of foreign journalists and shut down newspapers

Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association (BMA) today condemned new attempts by Burma’s military rulers to exert pressure on foreign journalists and the Burmese media. Soldiers and police today descended on several hotels in Rangoon, including Traders, to check the IDs of foreign journalists there. Internet and international phone lines are still open at these hotels. A local...

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27 September 2007

Burma: Japanese photographer killed, another foreign journalist injured

Reporters Without Borders is appalled by the death of a Japanese news photographer on the streets of Rangoon this morning. Kenji Nagai, fifty years old, worked for the photoagency APF. He has been in Burma for two days. Another foreign journalist was reportedly injured. The press casualties came after the security forces opened fire on demonstrators near the Tarder Hotel in the centre of Rangoon...

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26 September 2007

Burma: News blackout accompanies military crackdown on protests

Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association are outraged by the measures adopted by the military junta to prevent journalists and activists covering the on-going crackdown on protests. Most of the country’s mobile phone lines have been cut and the Internet network has been drastically reduced. Charges by police and troops on demonstrators in Rangoon, especially near the Shwedagon...

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25 September 2007

Burma: One photographer killed and six journalists in jail

At a demonstration close to the Burmese embassy in Paris on 27 September 2007, Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association launched an appeal to the UN Security Council to stop the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations within the country. The actor Jane Birkin also joined the rally to condemn the brutal policies of the Burmese regime towards the democracy movement and the...

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24 September 2007

Burmese junta steps up propaganda, censorship and violence against journalists

There have been 24 serious violations of the freedom to report news and information against Burmese journalists trying to cover protests that began a month ago. The use of violence and censorship against journalists is a “detestable strategy” aimed at preventing them from doing their job, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) and the Burma Media Association have said. This strategy has been accompanied...

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18 September 2007

Burma cuts off phone service to activists, journalists

The Burmese junta has cut off the mobile phones of prominent pro-democracy supporters and of some journalists representing foreign media, including two from Agence France-Presse, the news agency has reported. The management of AFP has requested that the authorities in Burma (Myanmar) restore mobile phone service to its reporters so that they can carry out their work. Burma's military government...

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29 August 2007

Burma junta using all means possible to prevent coverage of ongoing unrest

The Burmese junta is resorting to all methods possible to prevent journalists, including those working for the foreign media, from covering a wave of unrest in response to an increase in the price of fuel. “The military’s response to the wave of protests against price increases since 19 August has again been heavy-handed repression, intimidation and censorship of Burmese journalists,” Reporters...

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25 August 2007

Burmese junta tightens telecom screws to control news of protests

The Burmese military dictatorship may be tightening the already restricted telecommunication channels in the country to prevent information about the ongoing mass protests and arrests in Rangoon from leaking out. Members of the Burmese National League for Democracy shout slogans during a protest in front of the Burmese embassy in Seoul August 8, 2007. The protest was held in conjunction with the...

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