The media suffered two setbacks in what some journalists fear is an attempt to intimidate them ahead of elections later this year. First, the civilian inquest into the 2014 killing of a journalist ended without holding anyone to account. Second, the government began defamation proceedings against more than a dozen staff at a newspaper.
Excerpt of a 26 June 2015 CPJ Blog post by Sumit Galhotra, CPJ Asia Program Research Associate
Myanmar’s parliament yesterday [25 June] voted against several constitutional amendments that keep the military’s veto power intact, dealing a blow to hopes for fuller democracy, according to the BBC. And outside the legislature authorities are accelerating the pace at which they undoing democratic reforms.
The media suffered two setbacks this week in what some journalists fear is an attempt to intimidate them ahead of elections later this year. First, the civilian inquest into the 2014 killing of a journalist ended without holding anyone to account. Second, the government began defamation proceedings against more than a dozen staff at a newspaper.
A civil court inquiry into the death of freelance journalist Aung Kyaw Naing ended on Tuesday, yielding no results eight months after he was shot and killed while in military custody, according to news reports.