With 63 media personnel currently held, according to RSF’s Press Freedom Barometer, Myanmar is the world’s biggest jailer of journalists relative to its population.
In the space of a week, Myanmar’s military have arrested a banned news agency’s editor and passed prison sentences on three other journalists, including Han Thar Nyein, a nominee for this year’s Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press freedom Prize. RSF calls on the UN to toughen international sanctions on Myanmar’s generals to deter them from resorting to ever more terror.
Han Thar Nyein of Myanmar and Lady Ann Salem of the Philippines have been shortlisted for their efforts to hold corrupt and repressive governments to account.
The 15-year-old reporter deleted the data from her phone and packed up her guitar as she set out to meet a guerrilla fighter in Myanmar. The instrument was mostly a decoy, there to disguise her work as a journalist. She cleared the data from her phone to protect her sources in the event of an arrest.
The Southeast Asian nation has seen a relentless crackdown on free expression, with a small literary magazine emerging as one of the few remaining independent media outlets.