YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar authorities have accused Associated Press journalist Thein Zaw and five other members of the media of violating a public order law that could see them imprisoned for up to three years, a lawyer said on Tuesday.
The six were arrested while covering protests against the February 1 military coup in Myanmar, which 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.
Lawyer Tin Zar Oo, who represents Thein Zaw, said the six were charged under a law that punishes anyone who causes fear among the public, knowingly spreads false news or agitates directly or indirectly for a crime against a government employee.
The law was amended last June to extend its scope and increase the maximum prison term from two years.
Thein Zaw, 32, of the AP, was arrested on Saturday morning in Yangon, the country’s largest city. He was allegedly detained in the Insein prison in northern Yangon, notorious for housing political prisoners in previous military regimes.
According to the lawyer, Thein Zaw has been remanded in custody by a court and can be detained until March 12 without another hearing or other actions.
The AP demanded his immediate release.
“Freelance journalists must be allowed to report news freely and safely, without fear of pay,” Ian Phillips, AP vice president of international news, said after his arrest. “The AP decides in the strongest terms the arbitrary detention of Thein Zaw.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined this request.
“Myanmar authorities must release all journalists who are being held behind bars and stop threatening and harassing reporters because they are only doing their job to cover up the anti-coup street protests,” said Shawn Crispin , the senior representative of the CPJ in Southeast Asia. “Myanmar must not go back to the dark ages of the past, where military leaders imprisoned journalists to stifle and censor news.”
Thein Zaw was arrested while police accused protesters gathered at an intersection in Yangon that had become a meeting point for protesters.
Authorities have stepped up their crackdown on protesters last weekend, carrying out mass arrests and using lethal force. UN human rights bureaus say at least 18 people were shot dead in several cities on Sunday, when security forces opened fire on protesters.
The coup reversed years of slow progress towards democracy after five decades of military rule.
In December 2017, two journalists working for the Reuters news agency were arrested while working on a story about the Rohingya minority in Myanmar. They were accused of illegally holding official documents, although they claimed that they were framed because of the official opposition to their reporting.
Although their case attracted international attention, they were sentenced the following year and sentenced to seven years in prison. They were released in 2019 in a mass presidential pardon.