10 December 2003

DEATH SENTENCED FOR JOURNALIST "DISTURBING"


In what exiled Burmese journalists call a "disturbing" development, authorities in Burma have sentenced the editor of a sports magazine to death for treason, report the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).

On 28 November 2003, Zaw Thet Htwe and eight other individuals were sentenced to death by a special court at Insein Prison near the capital of Rangoon. The editor of "First Eleven," Htwe has been detained since 17 July when authorities raided the publication's offices and arrested him and four other colleagues, CPJ says. The four colleagues were later released.

Htwe is accused of plotting to overthrow the military junta and participating in the banned National League for Democracy party. His arrest came after "First Eleven" published a story last June questioning how authorities spent US$4 million worth of international funds for soccer programs in Burma, notes RSF. Burmese officials say Htwe's arrest was connected to his work as a journalist but declined to elaborate.

This is not the first time Htwe has been arrested. During the 1990s, he was detained for several years for participating in the banned Democratic Party for a New Society.

Burma has one of the most repressive climates for free expression in Asia, with at least nine journalists and writers in jail. Authorities keep a tight grip on information and forbid journalists from reporting on a wide range of topics from local rainstorms to losing soccer matches to details of the September 11 World Trade Center attacks.

More information on Burma is available on the IFEX website: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/145/


WHAT YOU CAN DO:

- Write letters appealing for the release of jailed journalists and writers:
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/53755/


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Also from the Communiqué, 10 December 2003

INTERNATIONAL: IFEX MEMBERS PROMOTE FREE EXPRESSION AT INFORMATION SOCIETY SUMMIT 10 December 2003 INTERNATIONAL: WIPC CONDEMNS ATTACKS ON WRITERS AND IMPUNITY 10 December 2003 RWANDA: "HATE MEDIA" TRIAL ENDS IN CONVICTIONS 10 December 2003 INTERNATIONAL: IFJ LAUNCHES PUBLIC BROADCASTING CAMPAIGN 10 December 2003 SOUTH KOREA: PUBLIC BROADCASTER THREATENED, SAYS IFJ 10 December 2003 CROATIA: CROATIAN LIBRARIANS PROMOTE ACCESS TO INFORMATION 10 December 2003 INTERNATIONAL: SEMINAR EXAMINES MEDIA'S ROLE IN PEACE-BUILDING 10 December 2003 INTERNATIONAL: CHECHEN ACTIVIST WINS 2004 MARTIN ENNALS AWARD 10 December 2003 INTERNATIONAL: Commonwealth Survey Shows Right-to-Information Deficit 10 December 2003

Burma

Sorting out sanctions, censorship, sincerity 23 May 2012 Government to end prior censorship 16 May 2012 By-election shows greater respect for press freedom, says IPI 4 April 2012 Wary about Burma? So are others 2 April 2012 Censors issue warnings to two political journals 29 March 2012 See all alerts: Burma


Asia and Pacific

CHINA: Anti-foreign attitudes bode ill for China correspondents 24 May 2012 CHINA: Government continues to censor reporting on activist Chen Guangcheng 24 May 2012 MALAYSIA: Authorities urged to drop charges against protest participants 24 May 2012 PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Parties urged to respect media role 24 May 2012 VIETNAM: Call for release of Catholic activists 23 May 2012


 
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