Arakan State journalists wary, in hiding amid crackdown on local press

By Admin 07 Nov 2023

DMG Newsroom
7 November 2023, Sittwe

Myanmar’s military regime has so far brought prosecutions against five journalists from media agencies based in Arakan State since the coup.

Among the journalists charged are the editor-in-chief and a reporter of Narinjara News, the editor-in-chief and a reporter for Western News, and a reporter from Development Media Group (DMG). The regime has filed charges against them under Section 505(a) of Penal Code for incitement, Sections 66(d) and 65 of the Telecommunications Law, and Section 124(a) of the Penal Code, which covers sedition.

An Arakan State-based female journalist said she increasingly feels unsafe due to the junta’s targeting of journalists.

“As news agencies and reporters are being targeted, it has become considerably difficult for us to go to the ground. The accuracy of reports has been impacted more or less due to restrictions on gathering of information. And reporters feel unsafe both physically and psychologically,” she said.

The regime’s arrests of journalists are intended to restrict press freedom and the right to information, and instill fear, said journalists.

The regime arrested reporter Ko Htet Aung and security guard Ko Soe Win Aung of DMG on October 29 as more than 20 junta troops raided and sealed off DMG’s head office in the Arakan State capital Sittwe.

The regime has imposed a broader crackdown on the press since its February 2021 coup, revoking the licenses of media outlets reporting on human rights violations of the regime, raiding media agencies and arresting and imprisoning journalists.

The crackdown has forced many journalists to go into hiding, but the regime initially spared journalists based in Arakan State.

However, the regime opened a case against the Western News chief editor and reporter under Section 124(a) of the Penal Code in January of last year for alleged sedition. In May, the Narinjara chief editor and reporter were charged under Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law. All four have gone into hiding.

DMG reporter Ko Htet Aung is the first reporter detained by the regime in Arakan State since the coup. DMG spokesman U Zaw Zaw said: “The military council is not violating human rights alone, but violating everything. It has perceived the media as a threat, and is therefore treating them badly. There is no press freedom at all.”

DMG staff including its editor-in-chief, executives and reporters were also charged in absentia under Section 17(2) of the Unlawful Associations Act, Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law and Section 505(a) of the Penal Code.

Arakan State-based media outlets including DMG, Narinjara, Western News and Border News Agency report on politics, economics, human rights and many other matters in Arakan State and beyond. All say they have had their operations disrupted by the regime’s actions — or fear thereof — in recent weeks. 

Western News chief editor Ko Wunna Kwar Nyo said: “The safety of reporters is at greater risk, and our operation has been seriously hampered. I strongly condemn raids on news agencies.”

Since the coup, Myanmar has become the world’s third-worst jailer of journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Dozens of journalists have been detained since the coup and at least 50 remain in prisons across the country.