YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Thein Zaw, a reporter from The Associated Press who was arrested last month while covering a protest against the coup in Myanmar, was released from detention on Wednesday.
Thein Zaw told the AP and his family about his release over the phone after his second hearing since his arrest nearly a month ago.
Speaking on the way home, he said the judge in his case had read a statement in court that all charges against him were dropped because he was doing his job at the time of his arrest.
“I look forward to meeting my family members,” he said, expressing concern about other journalists who remain in custody. “I’m sorry for some of my colleagues who are still in prison.”
Thein Zaw was charged with violating a public policy law, which carries a prison sentence of up to three years.
He was one of nine media workers who had been detained and held without bail during the February 27 street protest in Yangon, the country’s largest city. About 40 journalists have been detained or charged since the February 1 coup.
The Associated Press and many press freedom organizations have called for the release of Thein Zaw and other detained members of the press.
“The Associated Press is very relieved that AP journalist Thein Zaw has been released from prison in Myanmar,” said Ian Phillips, AP vice president for international news. “Our relief is tempered by the fact that more journalists are being held. We urge Myanmar to release all journalists and enable them to report freely and securely on what is happening in the country. “
Thein Zaw was arrested while shooting police, some of them armed, attacking protesters against the coup through a street. A video shows that although he stepped to the side of the street to get out of the way, several police officers ran to him and surrounded him. One of them strangled him while he was handcuffed and then taken away.
He was held in Yangon’s Insein Prison, notorious for decades for holding political prisoners, and where hundreds of people are currently being held for protesting the coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Thein Zaw’s lawyer, Tin Zar Oo, was only able to see her client for the first time at a March 12 hearing to extend his pre-trial detention, and even then it was via video link that she and one of Thein Zaw’s brothers watched at the court of Kamayut Township. His next hearing was scheduled for Wednesday.