YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar authorities have accused Associated Press journalist Thein Zaw and five other members of the media of violating public policy law that could land them up to three years in prison, a lawyer said Tuesday. .
The six were arrested while covering protests against the February 1 military coup in Myanmar that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The group consists of journalists for Myanmar Now, Myanmar Photo Agency, 7Day News, Zee Kwet online news and a freelancer.
Lawyer Tin Zar Oo, who represents Thein Zaw, said the six have been charged under a law that punishes anyone who spreads fear among the public, knowingly spreads false news, or directly or indirectly agitates for a crime against a government employee.
The law was amended by the junta last month to broaden its scope and increase the maximum term of imprisonment from two years.
AP’s Thein Zaw, 32, was taken into custody Saturday morning in Yangon, the country’s largest city. He is reportedly being held in Insein Prison in northern Yangon, notorious for housing political prisoners under previous military regimes.
According to the lawyer, Thein Zaw has been remanded by a court and can be held until March 12 without another hearing or further action.
The AP has called for his immediate release.
“Independent journalists should be able to report the news freely and securely without fear of retaliation,” Ian Phillips, AP’s vice president for international news, said after the arrest. “AP denounces Thein Zaw’s arbitrary detention in the strongest terms.”
The Committee for the Protection of Journalists agreed with that call.
“Myanmar authorities should release all journalists held behind bars and stop threatening and harassing reporters for merely doing their job to cover street protests against the coup,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior representative from Southeast Asia. . “Myanmar must not return to the dark ages of past where military rulers imprisoned journalists to suppress and censor news reports.”
Thein Zaw was arrested when police were charged for protesters who had gathered at a Yangon intersection that has become a rallying place for protesters.
Authorities escalated their actions about last weekend’s protesters who carried out mass arrests and used deadly force. The UN human rights offices said it believes at least 18 people were shot dead in several cities on Sunday when security forces opened fire on demonstrating crowds.
The coup reversed years of slow progress towards democracy after five decades of military rule.
In December 2017, two journalists working for Reuters news agency were arrested while working on a story about Myanmar’s Rohingya minority. They were charged with illegally possessing official documents even though they claimed they had been charged with officially opposing their reporting.
Although their case drew international attention, they were convicted the following year and sentenced to seven years behind bars. They were released in 2019 in a massive presidential pardon.