Myanmar’s military has arrested two more local journalists, a military-owned TV station reported on Saturday, the latest among dozens of detentions in a sweeping crackdown on the media since a Feb. 1 coup.
Sithu Aung Myint, a columnist for news Web site Frontier Myanmar and commentator at Voice of America radio, and Htet Htet Khine, a freelance producer for BBC Media Action, were arrested on Sunday last week, Myawaddy TV reported.
Sithu Aung Myint was charged with sedition and spreading false information that Myawaddy said was critical of the junta, and had urged people to join strikes and back outlawed opposition groups.
Htet Htet Khine was accused of harboring Sithu Aung Myint, a criminal suspect, and working for and supporting a shadow national unity government.
BBC Media Action said in a statement that it was concerned about Htet Htet Khine’s safety and the charges against her, and was closely monitoring the situation.
Reporters Without Borders said that the pair were being held incommunicado.
“We strongly condemn the arbitrary conditions of their detention, which reflect the brutality with which the military junta treats journalists,” said Daniel Bastard, who heads the group’s Asia-Pacific desk.
Myanmar remains fraught with instability and opposition to military rule, under which more than 1,000 people have been killed, a rights advocate group that has been tracking killings by security forces said.
The military, which has revoked the licenses of many news media, says that it respects the role of media, but does not allow news reporting it deems false or likely to create public unrest.
A report by the Committee to Protect Journalists last month said that Myanmar’s rulers had effectively criminalized independent journalism.
Human Rights Watch late last month said the military government had arrested 98 journalists since the coup and should stop prosecuting members of the media.
Of those arrested, 46 had remained in custody as of the end of last month.
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