Two Burmese journalists have been sentenced to serve two months in prison with hard labour after being convicted of a defamation charge, reports their newspaper, the Myanmar Post..
San Moe Tun, the Post’s chief editor, and Than Htike Thu, its deputy chief reporter, were charged after a complaint by a member of the army who is also an MP, Major Thein Zaw.
He claimed that he was defamed in a story published on 29 January 2014, “A military parliamentary representative says they have to take seats in parliament because of low educational standards.”
Zaw, who was interviewed for the story by a freelance reporter, said he was misquoted. But he did not level his complaint against that reporter, choosing to sue the two staffers instead.
On the day the two were jailed (Wednesday 18 March), the Myanmar Post published a black box on its front cover in protest at violent police action against student protestors and media staff in Letpadan on 10 March.
Rights and press freedom groups, such as the International Press Institute (IPI), have expressed concern over pressures on journalists in Burma (Myanmar) since President U Thein Sein took power in 2011.
In four years, 17 journalists have been imprisoned on various charges, and there are currently 13 journalists in jail. A freelance reporter, Ko Par Gyi, was shot dead in army custody in October last year.
Sources: Myanmar Post/IPI
