Yangon/Geneva/Guwahati: Despite global outcry, the persecution of journalists by junta continues unabated in Myanmar. Reports suggest that the Generals led by Min Augh Hlaing, who usurped power from a democratically elected government on February 1, 2021, and recently proclaimed himself as the Premier of the south-east Asian naiton, continue to target the media persons with arbitrary raid, detention and arrests. In reality, they have tried to destroy the entity of free press, reports suggest.
Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), the Switzerland based global media rights body, claimed today that while the military rulers have detained about one hundred journalists who dared to question their credentials to rule the south-east Asian nation, over 40 of these journalists were still languishing behind the bars.
“Not only the local Burmese journalists, the junta now wants to diktat the foreign media outlets with a proper way of describing the military regime, which grabbed the political power deposing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi led National League for Democracy (NLD) government of Myanmar,” said Blaise Lempen, general secretary of PEC.
Recently, the military officials expressed their resentments as the media outlets continued using the term ‘military junta’ to describe the regime and they warned not to repeat the mistake. Indicating the foreign news agencies, which are reporting about Myanmar, they asked the correspondents to stop using wrong terms and also avoid spreading ‘fake news’. Otherwise, the military generals threatened to take of necessary actions against them.
“Lately, two more journalists were detained that increases the number of scribes and other media workers arrested up to 95 since the coup took place. Military personnel had recently arrested outspoken freelance journalist U Sithu Aung Myint and the foreign media contributor Ma Htet Htet Khine from Yangon on 15 August 2021,” said Aung Zaw, a senior Burmese journalist, while speaking to PEC’s India representative Nava Thakuria from an undisclosed location. “Zaw also added that three women journalists were arrested in the month of July,” Thakuria said.
Released media persons have described how they were tortured in the name of interrogation during their detentions. Families of journalists under detention like Han Thar Nyein, Min Nyo, Mya Wunn Yangon, Myo Myat Myat Pan, Thin Thin Aung, Tu Tu Tha, Than Htike Aung, among many others are worried about their safety and security as the Covid-19 is also spreading across the developing country.
The PEC mentioned that over one thousand Burmese nationals have lost their lives participating in various protest-demonstrations against the military regime, adding that more than seven thousand people have been arrested and over five thousand individuals are either detained or sentenced, whereas nearly 230,000 ethnic minorities have been displaced since the recent military takeover in the land of golden pagodas.
– global bihari bureau
