Reporters of a Sittwe-based news outlet have gone into hiding following a raid on its office in the Rakhine State capital over the weekend, according to one of its editors.
The raid targeting the Development Media Group (DMG) took place on Sunday after one of its reporters was arrested in the morning while covering a festival at the city’s Wingbar Stadium, the editor said.
The reporter, Htet Aung, was reportedly forced to reveal the location of DMG’s office, which was still operating despite the outlet being blacklisted by the regime that seized power in February 2021.
Around 20 junta personnel, including military intelligence agents, forced their way into the office and seized computers, cameras, and bankbooks, the editor told Myanmar Now.
They also arrested a night security guard and sealed the office after the raid, he added.
“The situation now is worse than ever for local journalists,” he said, accusing the regime of tightening control over the media at a time when the Arakan Army (AA), a Rakhine-nationalist armed group, is not engaged in active hostilities in the state.
“It has been getting harder and harder for us to survive. Some journalists have quit and started doing other work. It’s a great loss for us,” he said.
DMG was founded in 2012, after Myanmar’s former military junta handed over power to a quasi-civilian administration that ended decades of draconian censorship and introduced other political reforms.
However, in May 2019, at the height of a two-year conflict between the military and the AA, DMG’s founding editor-in-chief, Aung Marm Oo, was charged under Section 17(2) of the Unlawful Associations Act for alleged contact with the group.
In late January 2021—days before the coup that installed the current regime—a DMG reporter and editor were charged under Section 66d of the Telecommunications Law for publishing an article accusing soldiers of stealing rice from civilians.
While few journalists have been detained in Rakhine State since the coup, outlets operating there have faced the same pressures as those in other parts of the country.
In late 2021, an attempted raid on the office of Sittwe-based Western News forced its staff to go into hiding. Early the following year, its chief editor and a reporter were charged with sedition under Section 124a of the Penal Code.
Narinjara, another outlet based in the state, has also faced various charges, including incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code and defamation under Section 66d of the Telecommunications Law.
It was unclear if Htet Aung, the DMG reporter arrested on Sunday, or the guard have since been released. Myanmar Now has been unable to reach Htet Aung’s family for information about his status.
Hla Thein, the junta spokesperson for Rakhine State, has also been unavailable for comment.
In September, a regime-controlled court sentenced Sai Zaw Thaike, a photojournalist who was arrested in Rakhine State while working for Myanmar Now, to 20 years in prison.
He was arrested in May while covering the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha and charged with incitement, sedition, defamation, and violations of the Natural Disasters Management Law.
