Myanmar’s military authorities have charged an Associated Press (AP) photographer and five other journalists over their coverage of protests against a military coup, their lawyer said yesterday.
AP photographer Thein Zaw, 32, was on Saturday arrested as he covered a demonstration in Yangon.
Thein Zaw’s lawyer, Tin Zar Oo, said that he and five other Burmese journalists had been charged under a law against “causing fear, spreading false news or agitating directly or indirectly a government employee.”
Photo: AFP
Last month, the junta amended the law, to increase the maximum sentence from two years to three years in jail.
“Ko Thein Zaw was simply reporting in line with press freedom law — he wasn’t protesting. He was just doing his work,” Tin Zar Oo said, adding that all six were being held at Insein Prison in Yangon.
The other five journalists are from Myanmar Now, the Myanmar Photo Agency, 7Day News, Zee Kwet Online news and a freelancer, AP said.
AP international news vice president Ian Philips called for Thein Zaw’s immediate release.
“Independent journalists must be allowed to freely and safely report the news without fear of retribution,” he said. “AP decries in the strongest terms the arbitrary detention of Thein Zaw.”
Since the coup, authorities have steadily stepped up their tactics against the protesters, deploying tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets, as well as isolated incidents of live rounds.
Sunday was the bloodiest day of protests since the military takeover, with the UN saying that at least 18 protesters were killed across the country.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group said that more than 1,200 people have been arrested since the coup, with about 900 still behind bars or facing charges.
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