A Chance to Fix in Time: Analysis of Freedom of Expression in Four Years Under the Current Government
Civilians
495
Activists
326
Journalists
67
Members of Political Parties
60
Religious Individuals
27
Artists
24
Civil Servants
17
Members of EAOs
15
Parliamentarians
7
Tycoons/Employers
7
Others
6
Figure: Types of accused and number of lawsuits
(b) Perpetrators
The complainant who filed the most lawsuits is the government. The second most
common complainants in lawsuits are civilians who typically filed lawsuits against
the critics of the State Counsellor, the government, NLD and USDP as third-party
plaintiffs on their behalf.
Exceptionally, lawsuits filed by journalists or media personnel were found among
the lawsuits violating the free expression. In 2016 and 2017, many civilians were
sued under the Telecommunications Law for criticising the news media agencies,
media proprietors or different forms of news coverage. Some lawsuits were
withdrawn by the media agencies.
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Chapter (1): Introduction