Journalists call for release of two reporters detained by KIA

By Admin 23 Oct 2024

DMG Newsroom
23 October 2024, Sittwe

Journalists have called on the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) to release a pair of reporters based in Kachin State's Hpakant after the two men were arrested in late September.

Media organisations including the Independent Myanmar Journalists Association (IMJA) and Red News Agency on Wednesday called for the release of the two detained journalists - Ko Tar Lin Maung and Ko Naung Yoe.

The IMJA in a statement expressed concerns for the safety of the duo, whose whereabouts remain unknown.

"After the arrest, the KIA didn't inform family members where the two journalists were being detained. The IMJA is deeply concerned that the two have been held incommunicado since the arrest," reads the statement.

The KIA arrested the two men on September 29 and 30.

Red News Agency in its statement called for the immediate release of Ko Tar Lin Maung and Ko Naung Yoe.

Ko Naung Yoe is a former political prisoner, while Ko Tar Lin Maung served in the Information and Public Relations Department before the 2021 coup. He joined the Civil Disobedience Movement after the coup.

Advocates for their releast said the arrest of independent journalists amounted to violations of human rights and democratic norms.

DMG was unable to contact KIA officials for comment, while fellow reporters have denounced the arrest of their colleagues, saying that the arrests makes the Kachin ethnic armed group look much like the junta it opposes.

"This has led to this question: Are they following in the steps of the military regime? Journalists are only doing their job, and it is not a crime. They are only revealing the truth. They [KIA] are nothing different from the military regime to have arrested journalists at this time," said a reporter from Arakan State.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Tuesday said that the KIA must be held accountable for the arrest of the two journalists.