Myanmar authorities charge Associated Press journalist

YANGON, Myanmar: Six members of the media, including Associated Press [AP] journalist Thein Zaw were charged on Tuesday of violating a public order law that could see them imprisoned up to three years, said a lawyer.
Myanmarese authorities charged AP’s Zaw and five media persons following their arrest while covering protests against the February 1 military coup in Myanmar that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
The group includes journalists for Myanmar Now, Myanmar Photo Agency, 7Day News, Zee Kwet online news and a freelancer.
Zaw’s lawyer Tin Zar Oo said the six have been charged under a law that punishes anyone who causes fear among the public, knowingly spreads false news, or agitates directly or indirectly for a criminal offense against a government employee.
The law was amended by the junta last month to broaden its scope and increase the maximum prison term from two years.
Detained on Saturday morning in the country’s largest city, Yangon, Zaw, 32, was reported to be held in Insein Prison that’s notorious for housing political prisoners under previous military regimes.
According to the lawyer, Thein Zaw was remanded into custody by a court and can be held until March 12 without another hearing or further action, meanwhile AP has called for Zaw’s immediate release.
“Independent journalists must be allowed to freely and safely report the news without fear of retribution,” Ian Phillips, AP vice president for international news, said after the arrest. “AP decries in the strongest terms the arbitrary detention of Thein Zaw.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined that call.
“Myanmar authorities must release all journalists being held behind bars and stop threatening and harassing reporters for merely doing their jobs of covering anti-coup street protests,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Myanmar must not return to the past dark ages where military rulers jailed journalists to stifle and censor news reporting.”
Zaw was arrested as police charged toward protesters gathered at an intersection in Yangon, the demonstrators’ meeting point.
This past weekend the authorities escalated their crackdown carrying out mass arrests and using lethal force. The UN Human Rights offices said it believes at least 18 people were shot dead Sunday in several cities when security forces opened fire on demonstrators.
The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy after five decades of military rule.
In December 2017, two Reuters’ journalists were arrested while working on a story about Myanmar’s Rohingya minority. They were accused of illegally possessing official documents, although they argued that they were framed because of official opposition to their reporting.
Although their case attracted international attention, they were convicted the following year and were sentenced to seven years behind bars. They were freed in 2019 in a mass presidential pardon.

Myanmar authorities charge Associated Press journalist