Update on Journalism and Media in Myanmar July - September 2023 This is happening against the backdrop of worries about a resurgence of hostilities between the armed forces and the Arakan Army, an ethnic Rakhine armed organisation, whose informal truce since November 2022 appears to be growing more tenuous by the day. Compared to other regions in Myanmar, Rakhine saw much fewer arrests of local journalists since the coup, owing partly to the truce there. But the situation has been changing, even as observers say a resurgence of armed conflict is likely. Independent reporting from Rakhine has also been difficult under the military’s restrictions in the wake of Cyclone Mocha in May, as the arrest and conviction of the Myanmar Now photojournalist shows. Arrests and Detention From July to September 2023, three male journalists were arrested under Myanmar’s military junta, called the State Administration Council (SAC). As a precautionary measure since their identities have not been disclosed publicly, this update does not include more details about them. Convictions A photojournalist from Myanmar Now, Sai Zaw Theik, was convicted on 6 September, more than three months after his arrest in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state, in late May. Also included in this brief is the 28 June conviction of the former publisher of The Irrawaddy, Thaung Win, an incident that was not included in the January to June update of this monitoring project. Sai Zaw Theik, 40, received a combined sentence of 20 years with hard labour with his conviction for multiple security-related charges. From Yangon, he had travelled to Sittwe to the widespread devastation caused by Cyclone Mocha in western Myanmar in May. His 20 years’ combined sentence is now the longest handed down to a journalist since the February 2021 coup. Prior to Sai Zaw Theik’s conviction, the longest combined sentence was 13 years, given to Hmue Yadanar Khet Moh Moh Tun of Myanmar Pressphoto Agency, in May. Most reports soon after Theik’s arrest said that he was charged with four violations of several laws– Article 27 of the Natural Disaster Management Law, Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, and Sections 505A and 124-A of the Penal Code. 2