While members of some non-governmental organizations and communities have also been targeted for arrest,54 Amnesty International’s research indicates that journalists and other media workers are particularly at risk of being charged in ways which amount to collective punishment: 55 Bi-Midday Sun media workers Five media workers from the Bi-Midday Sun newspaper were jailed in October 2014 after the paper published claims that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic leaders had been elected as an interim government in July 2014. Reporter Kyaw Zaw Hein, Managing Editor Win Tin, Editor-in-chief Thura Aung, Officer-in-charge Yin Min Htun and Publisher Kyaw Min Khaing were all sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for “incitement”. Authorities also arrested and questioned two others, Executive Editor Ye Min Aung and owner Ei Ei San, however both were released without charge due to lack of evidence. They were all released in a presidential amnesty in July 2015. The Unity Weekly media workers Five media workers from the Unity Weekly journal were arrested in January and February 2014 in connection with an article about an alleged chemical weapons factory. The authorities arrested and charged four reporters – Lu Maw Naing, Yarzar Oo, Paing Thet Kyaw and Sithu Soe – and the journal’s Chief Executive Officer Tint San. The five media workers were each sentenced to 10 years in prison with hard labour, later reduced to seven years with hard labour on appeal. They are currently imprisoned in Pakkoku prison. The authorities also detained another Unity Weekly staff member and the wife of journalist Lu Maw Naing, however released both without charge after concluding that there was not enough evidence to charge them. The Daily Eleven media workers In January 2014 five Daily Eleven media workers were charged with criminal defamation after the outlet published a story alleging misuse of public funds by Myanmar’s Ministry of Information. Those charged were Chief Executive Officer Than Htut Aung, Managing Director Thein Myint, Chief Editor Wai Phyo, Deputy Chief Editor Myat Thit, and Nay Htun Naing, the Executive Editor and author of the article in question. Several months later, in June 2015, the Ministry filed contempt of court charges against 17 Daily Eleven staff members – including the five already on trial – after the newspaper reported on the trial of their colleagues. The Ministry claimed the article put undue pressure on the court hearing the case. On 24 December 2015, the 17 media workers were found guilty of contempt of court 56 and each sentenced to either one month in prison or a fine of 30,000 kyat (USD30 approx). They are appealing their conviction. The criminal defamation case was still ongoing at the time of publication. In these cases, the authorities charged not only the author of a story deemed to be offensive, but numerous other staff members of the newspaper connected to the story. This tactic not only allows the authorities to target individual journalists, it also allows them to target media outlets as a whole. For small outlets where those detained comprise the majority of staff, the publications are no longer able to operate and may be forced to close down. For larger outlets such as Daily Eleven, the message is clear: “When they are suing the biggest paper in the country, they [the authorities] clearly want to create fear by showing they can sue anyone.”57 See Amnesty International, More activists from same groups arrested (Index: ASA 16/009/2014), 13 May 2014 and Activist organization targeted again (Index: ASA 16/029/2014), 6 November 2014. 55 See Amnesty International, Caught between state censorship and self-censorship: prosecution and intimidation of media workers in Myanmar (Index: ASA 16/1743/2015), 17 June 2015 (Amnesty International, Caught between state censorship and self-censorship). 56 Article 2(d) of the Contempt of Courts Law, The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Law No. 17/2013, 29 July 2013. 57 Amnesty International interview with the Chief Editor, Daily Eleven, Yangon, July 2015. 54 NEW EXPRESSION MEETS OLD REPRESSION ENDING THE CYCLE OF POLITICAL ARRESTS AND IMPRISONMENT IN MYANMAR Amnesty International 24