Myanmar military court sentences two journalists to harsh prison terms

A military court in southern Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region sentenced two journalists to lengthy prison terms earlier this year, according to a statement released by their employer on Tuesday. Dawei Watch, a news agency based in Tanintharyi, reported that Aung San Oo, 49, and Myo Myint Oo, 41, were arrested late last year during raids on their homes in the southern city of Myeik. According to the statement, Aung San Oo received a 20-year sentence in mid-February, while Myo Myint Oo was handed a life sentence three months later. “They applied arbitrary charges and imposed sentences as they pleased. There is no justice. They were simply doing their job of reporting the news,” said a Dawei Watch editor in a comment to Myanmar Now. The editor noted that the reporters were informed at the time of their arrest on December 11 that their detention was related to their reporting. Their phones and laptops were also seized. Despite this, they were later charged with terrorism-related offences and tried by a military court, even though Myeik is not under martial law, the editor added. The junta has imposed emergency measures in only two townships in Tanintharyi Region since seizing power more than three years ago—Tanintharyi to the south of Myeik and Palaw to the north. “After their arrest, we lost all contact with them. They were tried by a military court on terrorism charges, and we couldn’t even find out the specific charges against them,” the editor said. The reporters endured at least four days of interrogation, during which they were repeatedly beaten. The editor condemned the harsh sentences as a “deliberate attempt to suppress journalists.” Although Aung San Oo and Myo Myint Oo are from Myeik, the charges against them were filed by a military officer from Tanintharyi to ensure that martial law rules applied to their case. “Under normal circumstances, they would have been tried in a regular court with the right to a legal defence. Instead, the military court conducted secret trials and delivered the sentences in secrecy,” the editor explained.

Myanmar military court sentences two journalists to harsh prison terms

Aung San Oo and Myo Myint Oo from Dawei Watch were given 20 years and life sentences, respectively, after being arrested and tried in secret by a military court

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