Highlights
Three journalists were arrested and one photojournalist was convicted under Myanmar’s
military regime during July to September 2023. This photojournalist, who works for Myanmar Now, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted under four charges in September. This is the longest combined prison term handed down to a journalist since the military coup of February 2021.
The conviction of another individual, The Irrawaddy’s news publisher, is included in this
quarter’s update, but he was sentenced at the end of June.
During this quarter, there were reports of attacks on two other news persons – a reporter and a
former journalist – in northern Kachin state, where insecurity has been running high amid the
escalation of decades-long conflict between the Myanmar military and armed ethnic
organisations. The motives behind these two attacks are unknown.
The reporter sustained injuries after the motorcycle he was riding on was hit by a car, while
the former journalist died from gunshots fired at him while he was on his motorbike.
One former editor, in detention since April, was released in July.
As of end-September 2023, 59 journalists remained behind bars. Since January 2023, a total of
eight journalists have been arrested and six journalists have been convicted. The majority of
the convictions continue to be under Section 505A of the Myanmar Penal Code, which
penalises incitement against government and security forces, causing fear among the public
and spreading false news.
Journalists continue to work in dangerous situations in Myanmar’s continuing conflict, where
they face challenges in physical and digital safety, gathering news, and economic security.
In Rakhine, there are fresh signs that the space for news work is shrinking further in a region
whose media community faced restrictions even before the coup.
In the third quarter of 2023, journalists, along with civil society and other activists, were the
subject of tighter security checks, more frequent random checks and a stepped-up hunt for them
after the Rakhine regional authorities circulated a list of individuals wanted for a mix of
security-related crimes.
This is happening against the backdrop of worries about a resurgence of hostilities between the
armed forces and the Arakan Army, an ethnic Rakhine armed organisation, whose informal
truce since November 2022 appears to be growing more tenuous by the day.
Compared to other regions in Myanmar, Rakhine saw much fewer arrests of local journalists
since the coup, owing partly to the truce there. But the situation has been changing, even as
observers say a resurgence of armed conflict is likely.
Independent reporting from Rakhine has also been difficult under the military’s restrictions in
the wake of Cyclone Mocha in May, as the arrest and conviction of the Myanmar Now
photojournalist shows.
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