Local media outlets in Arakan State draw junta mouthpiece’s ire

By Admin 04 Apr 2023

DMG Newsroom
4 April 2023, Sittwe

Myanmar’s military regime has begun to “keep an eye on” local media outlets and journalists in Arakan State regarding their reports about junta chief Min Aung Hlaing’s visits to the state, according to Rakhine Daily, a mouthpiece of the regime.

The junta boss has made three trips to Arakan State so far this year, with local media outlets featuring news stories and analysis of those visits.

Rather than “appreciating and having sympathetic joy for [Min Aung Hlaing] working for the development of Arakan State,” Rakhine Daily wrote in a Facebook post that “instead they are lambasting it in various ways, which reflect their class. We have learnt that responsible persons [the regime] have started to keep an eye on them in order to arrest them.”

Ko Wunna Kwar Nyo, editor-in-chief of Western News, said: “Arakan media frankly and correctly report about the activities of the regime. So, the regime could not stand it and is attacking us. They are targeting journalists, and the threat makes it harder for journalists to report freely.”

Ko Kaung Myat Naing, editor-in-chief of Border News Agency, noted that the regime has imposed a crackdown on the press since the coup, and is now targeting media in Arakan State because of their reports about the junta chief.

“Following the third visit of the junta chief to Arakan State, they are working to search for, arrest and prosecute media agencies and journalists in their controlled areas in Arakan State. They have officially announced it now,” he said.

DMG was unable to reach the junta’s Arakan State Administration Council spokesman U Hla Thein for comment.

The military has filed lawsuits against at least nine editors and journalists from local media agencies in Arakan State for their investigative reports about the military’s human rights violations, forcing them into hiding.

In March, the junta opened a case under Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law against editor-in-chief U Khaing Myat Kyaw of Narinjara in response to a report that accused junta checkpoints of extorting money from travellers in Arakan State.

The regime also filed a sedition charge against Ko Wunna Kwar Nyo and a Western News reporter in January 2022 regarding a report, which alleged that a junta battalion in Chin State’s Paletwa had raised a white flag.

The regime has also filed charges against reporters and the chief editor of DMG under the Unlawful Associations Act, Telecommunications Law, and Penal Code.

“Journalists will feel restrained by their threat. Some journalists are already in hiding,” said freelance reporter Ko Naung Khaing Aung.

There are at least five media outlets based in Arakan State, reporting on the economy, politics and human rights issues in Arakan State and elsewhere in the country. Some of those media outlets report in multiple languages, including Burmese, Arakanese and English.