RSF condemns jail sentence on woman journalist in Myanmar

Nyein Nyein Aye, a freelance journalist who is also known by the pseudonym “Mabel”, was sentenced by a military court within Insein prison on July 14 to three years in prison with hard labour under Section 505 (a) of the penal code on charges of “causing fear, spreading fake news and agitating crimes against a government employee.”

She was detained on January 15 and worked for various media outlets, including Mizzima News. She previously worked for Standard Time newspaper and Kumundra Weekly prior to the 2021 military takeover.

“After the big wave of arrests of journalists following the February 2021 coup, we are now seeing a surge of sentences passed behind closed doors by military courts acting almost like a factory production line,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk.

“In view of these shocking violations of basic rights, we urge Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on Myanmar, to focus on the persecution of journalists and to take action to end these alarming abuses.”

According to the RSF’s press freedom index, Nyein Nyein Aye is the 24th journalist to receive a prison sentence. There are 67 media workers currently detained in Myanmar’s prisons.

Eleven Media

Asia News Network

Asia News Network: The Nation (Thailand), The Korea Herald, The Straits Times (Singapore), China Daily,  Jakarta Post, The Star and Sin Chew Daily (Malaysia), The Statesman (India), Philippine Daily Inquirer, Yomiuri Shimbun and The Japan News, Gogo Mongolia,  Dawn (Pakistan),  The Island (Sri Lanka), Kuensel (Bhutan), Kathmandu Post (Nepal), Daily Star (Bangladesh), Eleven Media (Myanmar), The Phnom Penh Post and Rasmei Kampuchea (Cambodia), The Borneo Bulletin (Brunei), Vietnam News, and Vientiane Times (Laos).