Reporting from the Darkness: Journalism and Media in Myanmar
2023 Q4 and Annual Report
Rakhine after the devastation brought by Cyclone Mocha in May 2023 continue, including on
independent reporting there.
For example, Myanmar Now photojournalist Sai Zaw Theik was arrested in May for going to
cover the cyclone disaster in Rakhine. He was convicted more than three months later with the
heaviest sentence for a journalist so far - 20 years with hard labour for violations of four
security-related laws.
On 13 November, a reporter working in southern Shan state was arrested, according to reliable
sources. For security reasons because he remains in detention, his identity is not being disclosed
in this report.
On 11 December, Dawei Watch journalists Myo Myint Oo and Aung San Oo were arrested in
their homes in Myeik, Tanintharyi region in the country's south. According to their families,
the military said that the two were arrested for their reporting, and that their laptops and phones
confiscated.
They faced several counts of terrorism under the Counter-terrorism Law. Each of them faces
one count each under the law's Sections 52 (a) and (b), which address organising, taking part
in terrorism and harbouring terrorists. Myo Myint Oo faced a third count for financing terrorism
(Section 50 (j)).
On 15 October, documentary filmmaker Shin Daewe – who is a former journalist – was arrested
in Yangon's North Okkalapa township after collecting an aerial drone that she had purchased
online to use in filming. Drone possession is prohibited in Myanmar.
Police then took her to an unidentified location and held her there for nearly two weeks before
transferring her to Insein prison, her husband, Ko Oo, was quoted as telling media. He
described signs that she had been beaten, such as stitches on her head and welts on her arms.
(In January 2024, she was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of violating the
Counter-Terrorism Law. Details will be in the report for the first quarter of 2024.)
There were no convictions reported in the last quarter of 2023.
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