11 Burmese journos in jail
as 2011 comes to a close

THE YEAR 2011 comes to an end with 11 journalists and writers still languishing in a Burmese jail because of alleged political offenses against the Myanmar regime.

An update released by the regional media group SEAPA, or the Southeast Asian Press Alliance, showed that 11 of the estimated 1500 political prisoners in Myanmar have been identified as journalists, a blogger, and a poet.

In October this year, the military junta ordered the release of five writers as part of a group of 220 political prisoners freed in an amnesty program for the elderly and the sickly. Despite the release, SEAPA says that at least 11 writers and photographers still languish in jail.

SEAPA and the Burmese media organization Mizzima have identified the 11 imprisoned journalists as:

1. Hla Hla Win, reporter of Democratic Voice of Burma; sentenced to 27 years in prison for violation of the Electronics Act, the Immigration Emergency Provisions Act, and the Unlawful Associations Act. Hla Hla was arrested for interviewing Burmese monks.

2. Min Han, a Burmese poet; sentenced to 11 years for giving assistance to the 88-Generation Student Group and All Burma Federation of Student Unions during the 2007 Saffron Revolution.

3. Nay Phone Latt, a blogger; sentenced to 12 years in prison for violating the Video Law and the Electronics Act, for posting an online caricature of then military leader Than Shwe.

4. Ngwe Soe Lwin, reporter of the Democratic Voice of Burma and recipient of the Rory Peck Award for journalism; sentenced to 13 years in prison for violating the Electronics Act and the Immigration Emergency Provisions Act.

5. Nyi Nyi Tun, editor and poet; sentenced to 13 years for violating the Unlawful Associations Act and the Wireless and Telegraph Act.

6. Sithu Zeya. photojournalist; sentenced to 18 years under the Unlawful Associations Act and the Immigration Emergency Provisions Act.

7. Thant Zin Aung, photojournalist; sentenced to ten years under the Video Law and the Electronics Act for helping victims of Cyclone Nargis.

8. Win Maw, reporter for the Democratic Voice of Burma; sentenced to 17 years for allegedly “instigating and disrupting public order and State security.”

9. Zaw Thet Htwe, reporter; sentenced to 11 years under the Electronics Act.

10. Zayar Oo, reporter; sentenced to seven years for distributing pamphlets calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

11. Thargyi Zeya, writer; sentenced to 13 years under the Unlawful Associations Act and the Immigration Emergency Provisions Act.

SEAPA says the Myanmar government had announced an amnesty for prisoners who are “aged, disabled, or in bad health, and who have served part of their sentence with good behaviour.” While the organization welcomed the release of five journalists last October, it also expressed concern over the continued detention of political prisoners, including journalists, on political grounds.