Myanmar Now Archives - Committee to Protect Journalists

Myanmar Now photojournalist Sai Zaw Thaike sentenced to 20 years in prison on multiple charges

September 6, 2023 1:56 PM EDT

Bangkok, September 6, 2023—Myanmar authorities should release photojournalist Sai Zaw Thaike and stop imprisoning members of the press for doing their jobs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Wednesday, September 6, a military tribunal in Yangon’s Insein Prison sentenced Sai Zaw Thaike to 20 years in prison with hard labor on various charges,…

Police officers are seen in Sittwe, Myanmar, on March 3, 2017. Journalist Kyaw Linn was recently attacked and threatened in Sittwe. (Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun)

Myanmar journalist Kyaw Linn attacked, threatened in Rakhine state

May 15, 2020 10:50 AM EDT

Bangkok, May 15, 2020 — Myanmar authorities must conduct a swift, thorough, and impartial investigation into the assault of journalist Kyaw Linn and ensure that reporters can work in Rakhine state without fearing for their safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Voice of Myanmar editor-in-chief Ko Nay Lin is escorted by police to court in Mandalay, Myanmar, on March 31, 2020. He is facing life in prison on terrorism charges for his reporting. (AFP/Zaw Zaw)

Myanmar editor faces life in prison for publishing interview with insurgent group

March 31, 2020 12:15 PM EDT

Bangkok, March 31, 2020 — Myanmar authorities should immediately release journalist Ko Nay Lin and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Police stand guard outside a court in Yangon, Myanmar, on August 9, 2019. The Mandalay District Court recently agreed to hear an appeal that could reopen a criminal defamation lawsuit against editor Swe Win. (Reuters/Ann Wang)

Myanmar court to hear appeal in defamation case against journalist Swe Win

August 29, 2019 10:08 AM EDT

Bangkok, August 29, 2019 – The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned a decision by Myanmar’s Mandalay District Court to hear an appeal that could reopen a criminal defamation lawsuit against editor Swe Win.

A market stall sells newspapers in Yangon, in June 2019. Journalists in Myanmar say their reporting is still met with legal action and censorship. (CPJ/Shawn Crispin)

From conflict zones to courtrooms, Myanmar’s journalists are under fire

July 31, 2019 12:42 PM EDT

Hopes for greater press freedom when Myanmar moved to quasi-democratic rule were quickly quashed with the jailing in 2017 of two Reuters reporters. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have their freedom again, but journalists and press freedom activists who met with CPJ’s Senior Southeast Asia Representative Shawn Crispin in Yangon in June said that…

A protester wears a T-shirt denouncing Myanmar's telecommunications law in January 2017. The law is used to stifle online criticism and reporting. (AFP/Ye Aung Thu)

Myanmar: One year under Suu Kyi, press freedom lags behind democratic progress

June 5, 2017 11:11 AM EDT

When Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her long-persecuted National League for Democracy party won elected office in November 2015, bringing an end to nearly five decades of authoritarian military rule, many local journalists saw the democratic result as a de facto win for press freedom.