UPDATE from WAN-IFRA: 2013 Golden Pen of Freedom awarded to Than Htut Aung of Myanmar (3 June 2013) (RSF/IFEX) – RSF and the Burma Media Association (BMA) voiced outrage at the 17 July 2003 arrest by military police at a Rangoon sports magazine of four journalists, two of whom are still being held in an […]
UPDATE from WAN-IFRA: 2013 Golden Pen of Freedom awarded to Than Htut Aung of Myanmar (3 June 2013)
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF and the Burma Media Association (BMA) voiced outrage at the 17 July 2003 arrest by military police at a Rangoon sports magazine of four journalists, two of whom are still being held in an undisclosed location. The arrests came after the magazine ran an article on a Burmese football team’s absence from an Asian tournament.
Demanding the immediate release of the two journalists still being held, the organisations said the arrests showed there was no room in Burma for any news reporting that challenged the will and the caprices of the generals in power. While the military junta maintains, without presenting any evidence, that dozens of prisoners have been released, the two organisations have confirmed that additional persons are being subjected to arbitrary arrest.
On 17 July, Military Intelligence (MI) personnel raided the offices of the sports weekly “First Eleven” on 17 July. The officers handcuffed and detained chief editor U Zaw Thet Htwe and journalists Than Htut Aung, U Zaw Myint and Soe Pa Pa Hlaing. The editor, a former political prisoner who served a four-year sentence, was reportedly beaten. The military police then took all four away, without disclosing where they were headed.
A few hours later, soldiers arrested the wife of U Zaw Thet Htwe, who works for the privately-owned magazine “Living Colour”. She was released a few hours later, while Than Htut Aung and U Zaw Myint were released on 19 July. The other two journalists are still being held.
The arrests appear to have been prompted by an article in the magazine about a fine imposed by the organisers of the Asian Champion Club tournament on a Burmese football team for failing to participate. The magazine, which has a circulation of more than 50,000, previously received a warning after publishing an article about an international donation of US$4 million for the promotion of football in Burma. The article asked how the money was spent.
On 18 July, the day after the arrests, the military police summoned all of the magazine’s journalists and asked them to continue publishing the magazine while respecting censorship rules.
RSF and the BMA oppose the lifting of any of the political and economic sanctions against the Burmese government until all political prisoners, including the 15 journalists currently being held, are released and censorship is abolished.
