About IFEX:

News by region:

IFEX Campaigns and Advocacy:

IFEX Email Products:

Opportunities and assistance:

Alert

Two publications suspended for publishing "indecent photos"

(Mizzima News/IFEX) - Two Rangoon publications which covered the wedding reception of popular film stars Pyay Ti Oo and Eindra Kyaw Zin have been suspended by the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division for publishing what it considered as "indecent" photographs.

The publications, "Monitor" and "Hello", were suspended for two weeks and one week, respectively.

"We have been suspended for printing allegedly indecent photos", "Monitor" editor-in-chief Myat Khaing told Mizzima.

Journalists said censors provided no clear definition of "indecent". In the past, actresses baring their legs in photographs have been taken to task for "inappropriate" dress.

Burmese authorities routinely punish entertainers by banning them from performing and acting in films, if they wear long hair or clothes they consider indecent, claiming the government is preserving traditional Burmese culture.

Photos of the film stars who attended the actors' wedding reception held at the Inya Lake Hotel in Rangoon on 21 January 2010 appeared in many publications.