Injured and detained journalists sentenced to three years plus labour in Myanmar jail

The Myanmar junta has reportedly sentenced two journalists to prison plus labour, along with seven anti-coup protesters. Myanmar Press Photo Agency journalists Ko Kaung Sett Lin and Ma Hmue Yadanar Khet Moh Moh Tun were arrested on December 5 after junta forces allegedly rammed a military vehicle into a peaceful flash-mob protest in Yangon’s Kyimyindaing Township.

According to the Irrawaddy, the junta’s crackdown left the two journalists with injuries to their legs, heads and other places on their bodies after they were hit from behind by the high-speed military vehicle. The female journalist now has to rely on crutches and a wheelchair as she is still unable to walk due to her legs being broken. The male journalist is reportedly still suffering from back pain. The two reporters and seven anti-regime protesters were jailed under Section 505 (a) of the Penal Code after being held in prison for one year, according to a representative of the Myanmar Press Photo Agency.

Hmue Yandanar Khet Moh Tun has also been charged under Section 50 (j) of the Counter-Terrorism Law and faces 10 years to life in prison if found guilty. Just last Saturday, the military also sentenced another freelance journalist, Ko Soe Yazar Tun, to four years in prison with hard labour under Section 52 (a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law for allegedly communicating with revolutionary forces.

This wasn’t the first time he has been sentenced to jail, as previously he served seven months in 2021. He was released in June of last year but was arrested again in March 2022. Two editors of Thingangyun Post Media, Ko Wai Lin Yu and Ma Htet Htet Aung, were also sentenced to five years imprisonment under the Explosive Substance Act.

According to monitoring groups, four journalists have been killed and over 143 arrested with 48 currently in custody since the junta took over in a coup last year.

Meanwhile, ASEAN members were allegedly invited to join an open-ended consultative meeting concerning the situation in Myanmar yesterday. Thailand allegedly hosted the meeting, according to an anonymous source for Teak Door. The source says the meeting is not an official ASEAN meeting, but rather an initiative to update and exchange views informally among colleagues interested in and affected by the Myanmar situation.

Furthermore, the United Nations Security Council has adopted a long-awaited resolution to the crisis in Myanmar. The Council called for Myanmar’s junta to release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a famous political prisoner whose democratically-elected party was ousted from power by the military in February 2021.