Win Naing Oo, the former chief correspondent at news outlet Channel Mandalay, was released from Myingyan Prison in Mandalay Region on Tuesday morning after completing his sentence, according to relatives and close associates.
The 39-year-old former journalist and his wife were taken into custody in Mandalay Region’s Sintgaing Township on August 31, 2021, during the arrest of a house guest sought by the regime that seized power earlier that year.
While his wife was released a week later, Win Naing Oo and his guest were both charged by the junta with incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code.
In January 2022, while standing trial at Mandalay’s Obo Prison, he was granted amnesty but then charged under the country’s Counterterrorism Law and later sentenced to five years in prison.
Having spent nearly four years behind bars, he was released this week after receiving some routine reductions of his sentence, a source close to the family told Myanmar Now.
He was previously sued by the army in May 2019 for violating Section 66d of the Telecommunications Law after Channel Mandalay reported on land seizures by the military near Pyin Oo Lwin.
Channel Mandalay was based in the city of Mandalay and specialised in covering land disputes and legal issues. It has suspended operations since the February 2021 coup.
Another Mandalay-based journalist, Naing Win Tun (also known as Myat Kalay), was arrested at his home in January 2023 after returning from several months in exile in Mae Sot, Thailand. He later received a seven-year sentence on terror-related charges.
Since seizing power, Myanmar’s military junta has revoked the licenses of many news outlets, including Myanmar Now. It has also arrested numerous journalists, among them photojournalist Sai Zaw Thaike, who was arrested while reporting on the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha in Rakhine State in 2023 for Myanmar Now.
Sai Zaw Thaike is currently serving a 20-year sentence in Yangon’s Insein Prison for multiple alleged offences, including misinformation, incitement, and sedition under various statutes—Article 27 of the Natural Disaster Management Law, Section 66d of the Telecommunications Law, and Sections 505a and 124a of the Penal Code. Each carry sentences ranging from one to 20 years.
According to a statement released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on May 3, the regime continues to hold 58 journalists in prison. Myanmar is ranked 169th out of 180 countries in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index for 2025.
