Thaung Win, a former director of the local independent news publication The Irrawaddy, is being held in pretrial detention under undisclosed charges.
On September 29, 2022, police officers arrested Thaung Win at his home in Yangon and took him to an interrogation center, according to The Irrawaddy’s editor-in-chief Aung Zaw, who communicated with CPJ by email and messaging app, and CPJ reporting.
Thaung Win is currently being held at an unknown location, Aung Zaw said in late October.
On the same night, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials searched the home of a senior The Irrawaddy editor in Yangon and interrogated his parents and siblings about his whereabouts, Aung Zaw told CPJ.
On October 14, Myanmar’s junta announced on state television that it would take legal action against The Irrawaddy for reporting that military forces opened fire on Buddhist pilgrims during an October 12 firefight with anti-junta insurgents in eastern Mon State, news reports said.
The Ministry of Information did not reply to CPJ’s emailed request for comment sent in November 2022 on Thaung Win’s legal status and whereabouts.