88 journalists convicted and sentenced The military gave lengthy prison sentences to journalists as a public sign of their willingness and power to ruin lives in order to crush dissent and protect their position of power. At least 88 journalists were convicted of committing a crime and sentenced during the period under review. The military’s sham courts did not abide by either global due process standards or Myanmar’s own procedural laws and rules. Trials were closed and overseen by either non-independent judges or military officials (see Annex I). Defense lawyers were either barred from entry or prevented from adequately representing their clients.36 Convictions were likely pre-judged and sentences were punitive. At the end of the period under review, almost half of the 88 convicted journalists were still serving prison sentences (47%) and the other half had been released. The latest conviction was handed down in January 2025. CONVICTION POLICY Many journalists captured earlier in the coup were held in detention without any sign of being processed through the courts. Probably the first journalist to be convicted by the military was sentenced on 12 May 2021, three months into the coup.37 They were sentenced to three years imprisonment under the military’s newly “amended” Penal Code (1861) Article 505A. By the end of November 2021, 10 months into the coup, the military had convicted only eight of the 141 journalists that had been detained during the same period (6%). The number of convictions started growing from December 2021, doubling from eight journalists to 15 within the month. It is unclear whether there was a specific change in military policy or whether the growth was simply the result of a judicial queue. Some civil society observers queried whether the military was initially avoiding convicting journalists in a desperate bid to maintain a pretense of legitimacy, or whether it was just preoccupied elsewhere.38 497 YEARS’ IMPRISONMENT The military’s sham courts handed down disproportionate sentences that clearly violated the rights to freedom of expression and association and undoubtedly created a chilling effect for all other journalists and media outlets. The 88 convicted journalists were sentenced to a combined total of 497 years’ imprisonment, an average of 5.7 years each. Almost all of the sentences handed down were imprisonment (92%) and most applied the maximum sentence allowable under the law.39 36 For further information about the judicial system under the military, see: FEM (2023), “Myanmar military’s ‘justice’ system”. 37 It was difficult to ascertain all convictions of journalists due to the secretive nature of the military’s sham courts. 38 Key informant interviews with three civil society leaders carried out on 30 September 2023. 39 One conviction included a fine and no custodial sentence. Sentences could not be established for three convictions. 13