BANGKOK: A court in Myanmar sentenced a photojournalist for a news agency to 20 years in prison with hard labor for his coverage of a deadly May cyclone’s aftermath, the media organization said Wednesday.
The sentence given Sai Zaw Thaike, a photographer for the independent online news service Myanmar Now, appeared to be the most severe for any journalist detained since the military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.
The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders said in April that Myanmar is the world’s second- biggest jailer of journalists, behind only China. The country ranks near the bottom of the group’s 2023 World Press Freedom Index, placing 176th out of 180 countries.
Myanmar Now, which operates underground, reported that a military tribunal tried, convicted and sentenced Sai Zaw Thaike, 40, during the first court hearing since he was detained in the western state of Rakhine.
The proceedings took place inside Insein prison in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, where the photographer was jailed after his arrest. The news agency said Sai Zaw Thaike was allowed no family visits and denied legal representation.
“His sentencing is yet another indication that freedom of the press has been completely quashed under the military junta’s rule, and shows the hefty price independent journalists in Myanmar must pay for their professional work,” the news site quoted Myanmar Now Editor-in-Chief Swe Win as saying.
The news outlet said Sai Zaw Thaike was arrested on May 23 in Rakhine’s capital of Sittwe while recording the damage caused by Cyclone Mocha, the country’s most destructive storm in at least a decade. Mocha made landfall near Sittwe just over a week before his arrest and caused widespread flash floods and power outages.
The storm killed at least 148 people in Rakhine state, many of them members of the persecuted Muslim Rohingya minority living in internal displacement camps, and damaged more than 186,000 buildings.
The news service said he was initially indicted on several charges, including under a statute that falls under the general heading of treason but is sometimes referred to as sedition. Other charges included incitement for allegedly causing fear, spreading false news and agitating against a government employee or the military, which carries a maximum prison term of three years.
He also was charged with online defamation, which is punishable by three years’ imprisonment, and with violating a Natural Disaster Management law for allegedly spreading false information about a disaster with the intention of causing public panic, which carries a potential prison term of up to one year.
Myanmar Now said it did not know which charges Wednesday’s conviction covered. Details of political trials are generally closely held by the authorities, and Myanmar Now’s report could not be independently confirmed.
The conviction of Sai Zaw Thaike is the latest assault on press freedom and journalists by the country’s military-installed government, which has cracked down heavily on independent media.
At least 13 media outlets, including Myanmar Now, have had their media licenses revoked and at least 156 journalists were arrested, about 50 of whom remain detained, according to the local monitoring group Detained Journalists Information. Nearly half of those still in custody have been convicted and sentenced.
At least four media workers have been killed and others were tortured while in detention.
Some of the media outlets ordered closed have continued operating underground without a license, publishing online as their staff members carry on reporting while trying to avoid arrest. Others operate from exile.
The military raided Myanmar Now’s office in Yangon a month after the 2021 takeover and some staff members, including chief editor Swe Win, fled criminal charges and went into hiding as authorities had their homes sealed.
Sai Zaw Thaike was the second journalist from Myanmar Now to be arrested. Video journalist Kay Zon Nway was detained while covering an anti-coup protest in Yangon in late February 2021 and released four months later under a broad amnesty.
“We will not waver in our commitment to continue providing news and information to the people of Myanmar, despite the immense challenges we are facing,” Swe Win said from exile.
Myanmar photojournalist gets 20-year sentence over reports on cyclone’s aftermath, news site says
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Myanmar photojournalist gets 20-year sentence over reports on cyclone’s aftermath, news site says
- Online news site Myanmar Now says Sai Zaw Thaike was arrested on May 23 in Rakhine region while recording the damage caused by Cyclone Mocha, which killed 148 people
- He was reportedly slapped with various charges including spreading false information about a disaster with the intention of causing public panic and online defamation
BBC slammed for ‘shameful’ cut to ‘free Palestine’ comment at BAFTA Awards
- Broadcaster removes from broadcast part of filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr.’s acceptance speech at the British Academy Film Awards
- Amnesty UK praises filmmaker for speaking up for those ‘facing and fleeing from persecution and mass atrocities’
LONDON: The BBC was accused on Monday of a “shameful” decision after it cut part of an acceptance speech at the previous night’s British Academy Film Awards in which a filmmaker uttered the phrase “free Palestine.”
British-Nigerian director and co-writer Akinola Davies Jr. and his brother, co-writer Wale Davies were collecting the award for outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer for their film “My Father’s Shadow” when the former made the comment.
The BBC chose not to include the final part of his speech when it broadcast the BAFTAs ceremony later in the evening. However, the corporation did broadcast an inadvertent racist slur shouted by a person with Tourette syndrome while Black actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting an award.
Akinola thanked industry figures and family for their support as he accepted the award, before dedicating it to “all those whose parents migrated to obtain a better life for their children.”
In the final part of his speech, cut by the BBC, he said: “To the economic migrant, the conflict migrant, those under occupation, dictatorship, persecution and those experiencing genocide, you matter and your stories matter more than ever.
“Your dreams are an act of resistance. To those watching at home, archive your loved ones, archive your stories yesterday, today and forever. For Nigeria, for London, Congo, Sudan, free Palestine. Thank you.”
The BBC, which broadcast the ceremony with a two-hour time delay, said the cut was made for timing reasons.
A spokesperson told Deadline: “The live event is three hours, and it has to be reduced to two hours for its on-air slot. The same happened to other speeches made during the night, and all edits were made to ensure the program was delivered to time. All winners’ speeches will be available to watch via BAFTA’s YouTube Channel.”
Human rights campaign group Amnesty UK described the decision by the BBC to cut part of the speech as “shameful.”
It added: “Thank you Akinola Davies Jr. for using your platform to speak out for the rights of migrants and people facing and fleeing from persecution and mass atrocities, from the Congo to Sudan to Palestine.”
In June last year, the BBC was at the center of a row after it broadcast a Glastonbury Festival performance by the duo Bob Vylan, during which the lead singer chanted “death to the IDF” in protest against the Israeli Defense Forces’ assault on Gaza.
