One year since two DMG employees' unlawful detention

By Admin 29 Oct 2024

DMG Newsroom
29 October 2024, Sittwe

Tuesday marked one year since reporter Ko Htet Aung and office staff Ko Soe Win Aung of Development Media Group (DMG) were arrested by Myanmar's military regime in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State.

Ko Htet Aung was arrested while covering a religious ceremony on the Full Moon Day of Thadingyut on October 29, 2023, in Sittwe. Later that same day, junta personnel raided the DMG newsroom in the Arakan State capital and detained office staff Ko Soe Win Aung.

Junta personnel coerced Ko Htet Aung into taking them to the DMG newsroom before raiding the office and arresting night watchman Ko Soe Win Aung. The regime confiscated newsroom property including cameras, computers and video editing equipment, documents, cash to pay DMG employees' salaries and office equipment and materials, and also sealed off the building.

Police officer Bo Bo Kyaw of Sittwe Township's No. 1 Police Station subsequently filed a lawsuit against 20 employees of DMG including Ko Htet Aung and Ko Soe Win Aung under Section 52(a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law over a news story about calls for justice on the sixth anniversary of the Muslim genocide in Arakan State.

The Sittwe Township Court sentenced the two men to five years in prison with hard labour on June 28, and declared the 18 other employees fugitives of the law.

The pair were transferred from Sittwe Prison to Pathein Prison early this month along with other political prisoners. They have been subjected to rights violations throughout the ordeal, as have the other political prisoners in the course of their respective experiences.

"Their family members were saddened by the prison transfer. It has become more difficult for them to make prison visits. We hope the two are in good health," said DMG editor-in-charge Nay Win San.

The regime killed seven journalists and arrested 177 others between February 1, 2021 - when the Myanmar military seized power in a coup - and August 2024. Fifty-three journalists remain in detention, according to the Independent Myanmar Journalists Association.