Myanmar charges Japanese journalist with encouraging dissent

Friends and colleagues of Japanese documentary filmmaker Toru Kubota call for his release during a press conference at Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Aug. 3, 2022. (Reuters)

• Toru Kubota was held while covering a protest in Yangon last week
• Charges against him carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison

YANGON: A Japanese journalist detained in Myanmar has been charged with breaching immigration law and encouraging dissent against the military, the junta said Thursday.
Toru Kubota, who was held while covering a protest in Yangon last week “has been charged under section 505 (a) and under immigration law 13-1,” the junta said in a statement. The two charges carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison.