Case dropped against Myanmar journalists facing incitement charges for criticising Yangon regional government’s financial management
- Eleven Media’s executive editors Kyaw Zaw Lin and Nayi Min and chief reporter Phyo Wai Win were arrested in October
- The case prompted an outcry amid fears of declining press freedom in the country
- It came weeks after Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were sentenced to seven years on state secrets charges while reporting on a massacre of Rohingya Muslims
The incitement case against three Myanmar journalists who reported critically on the financial management of Yangon’s government has been withdrawn, according to their lawyer, in a rare piece of good news for the country’s beleaguered press.
Eleven Media’s executive editors Kyaw Zaw Lin and Nayi Min and chief reporter Phyo Wai Win were arrested in October but allowed out on bail after a few weeks in detention.
They were accused of incitement after an article raised questions about budgeting within the city government, which is run by Phyo Min Thein, a close confidante of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Article 505 (b) criminalises published or circulated information that causes “fear or alarm to the public”.
The case prompted an outcry amid fears of declining press freedom in Suu Kyi’s Myanmar and was lodged weeks after Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were sentenced to seven years on state secrets charges while reporting on a massacre of Rohingya Muslims.
But the lawyer for Eleven Media’s staff said the Yangon government had sent a letter to the court asking to drop the charges and take up their grievance through arbitration at Myanmar’s Press Council.