Photojournalist completes first year of 20-year sentence for typhoon coverage

Subscribe to the Myanmar Now daily newsletter. It's free. Sign up > A Myanmar Now staffer who was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for his coverage of Cyclone Mocha in Rakhine State has completed his first year behind bars. Photojournalist Sai Zaw Thaike, who was arrested on May 23, 2023, while reporting on the aftermath of the deadly storm, is serving his sentence in Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison. He was taken into custody in Sittwe and interrogated for more than a week before being remanded to a court in Yangon’s South Dagon Township, where martial law was in effect. He was charged under Article 27 of the Natural Disaster Management Law, Section 66d of the Telecommunications Law, and Sections 505a and 124a of the Penal Code for sedition and high treason. He received his 20-year sentence from a military tribunal at Insein Prison last year on September 6, without being given a trial or the opportunity to defend himself. According to prison sources, Sai Zaw Thaike is in good health but, like other political prisoners, is facing oppression from the prison authorities. Sai Zaw Thaike joined Myanmar Now in 2017, leading its on-the-ground investigative reporting efforts. He previously worked at Skynet, Messenger Journal, The Irrawaddy, and 7Day Journal. “Ko Sai Zaw has risked his life for his journalism work. Despite the opportunity to leave Myanmar after the military coup, he chose to remain to continue reporting and caring for his elderly parents. All of us at Myanmar Now hope for his release in good health,” said Swe Win, Myanmar Now’s editor-in-chief. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, Myanmar’s military has detained 61 journalists since seizing power more than three years ago. Reporters Without Borders reported on August 26 that seven journalists have been killed in Myanmar since the February 2021 coup, either by junta army gunfire or through torture in interrogation camps.

Photojournalist completes first year of 20-year sentence for typhoon coverage

Sai Zaw Thaike was reporting on the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha for Myanmar Now when he was arrested in May of last year

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