Photojournalist Aung Nay Myo was released Monday without being charged, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports.
“Aung Nay Myo’s unwarranted detention over the weekend sends a signal to all journalists that they could be next for criticizing the deteriorating security situation in Myanmar’s various ethnic conflict zones,” Shawn Crispin, a senior Southeast Asia representative for CPJ said. “We call on Thein Sein’s government to stop using national security laws to threaten the press and to allow journalists to report freely from both sides in conflict areas.”
The photojournalist was arrested at his home in Monywa town and accused of violating the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act, news reports say. Police searched his house, initially saying they were searching for drugs. Then they confiscated his diary, laptop, USB sticks, and closed circuit television, CPJ reports.
One of the photographer’s close friends, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, said that Aung Nay Myo was first questioned by local Special Branch police on suspicion of possessing illegal drugs, The Irrawaddy reports.
“It was 3:00 a.m. in the morning and the Special Branch guys came to his home and said they were looking for drugs,” the friend said. “Since they found nothing related to drugs, they took him to the station and seized his computer, hard-disks, and memory cards.”
“When we contacted the police and authorities, they said they received a message from an informer about drugs,” he said. “But later, we found out that the arrest was connected to his posts on Facebook.”
The image in question was posted after news reports quoted government officials as accusing “Chinese mercenaries” of assisting ethnic Kokang rebels near the border that the two countries share. Myanmar’s government declared martial law in the area in mid-February after armed clashes between the two sides killed 70 people, according to estimates, CPJ reports.
Aung Nay Myo stirred up the hornet’s nest by satirizing a 1971 battle between government troops and communist fighters, Al-Jazeera reports. He wrote that it was directed by Thein Sein, Myanmar’s former military commander, who became Myanmar’s President in March 2011.
The photoshopped image satirized an advertisement for an action movie called “Kun Lon 40 Days,” and along with featuring the future President, it also featured other notable officials, including Gen Min Aung Hlaing, Parliamentary Speaker Shwe Mann, and Information Minister Ye Htut, The Irrawaddy reports. Each was photoshopped onto the bodies of men wearing military uniforms, and the film title was changed to read “Condom 40 days.”
The trouble began when a complaint letter fired off by a Special Branch officer to the Monywa Police Station accused Aung Nay Myo and “accomplices” of posting faked photos and text that aimed at “harming, deterring, and disturbing,” government operations.
The letter writer requested that action be taken against Aung Nay Myo under the Provisions Act, The Irrawaddy reports.
Fortunately, the photojournalist was released on Monday and wasn’t charged, but if he had been, he could have faced up to seven years in prison, CPJ reports.
He was targeted for his political activism, said Ant Bwe Kyaw, of the 88 Generation Students. He’s a close friend of Aung Nay Myo’s.
“I don’t agree with what they did to Aung Nay Myo,” he said. “For me, the case is intentionally orchestrated to trouble a person who is politically active. He is always helpful to the 88 Generation Students, the National League for Democracy, and finally to the students who are now on the march for education reform. He simply annoyed the authorities.
Myanmar is notoriously harsh on journalists, especially in the country’s various armed conflict zones, and this includes in eastern Shan and northern Kachin states, CPJ reports.
Aung Kyaw Naing, a freelance reporter was killed in October — shot to death in October while being held in military custody, news reports say. An autopsy shows evidence that he may have been tortured before he was executed. No military officials have been charged with his death.
He had been reporting from an area occupied by the rebel Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) before his arrest. Naing contributed news and photos to local Myanmar publications Eleven Media, Yangon Times, and The Voice, CPJ reports.
In a statement to the Press Council, Myanmar’s army claimed that Naing was shot after he attempted to grab a soldier’s gun and escape detention, news reports said, per CPJ. The statement also reported that Naing was the communications officer for the Klohtoobaw Karen Organization, which is the political wing of the DKBA, however, the organization has denied that Naing was affiliated with them.
“The killing of Aung Kyaw Naing by Burma’s (Myanmar) military is reprehensible,” Crispin said. “Civilian authorities must investigate the military’s accounting of his death, which has the initial hallmarks of a cover-up. Any soldier found responsible for his extrajudicial killing or mistreatment before his death must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Tragically, Aung Kyaw Naing isn’t the only journalist killed by Myanmar’s vicious military. Three other journalists have also been murdered, CPJ reports. Kenji Nagai, who worked for the Japanese media was killed by troops while reporting on a protest in 2007. Reporters U Hla Han and U Tha Win, employees of Kyemon, a newspaper in Myanmar, were allegedly tortured to death in 1999, according to reports.
Reporters Without Borders reports that worldwide, 69 journalists, 11 media assistants, and 19 citizen journalists and netizens were killed in 2014.
In Myanmar, at least nine journalists, along with several publishers and media owners are languishing in prison, with sentences lasting from two to seven years, The Washington Post reports. Almost one dozen other people are facing charges, thus negating whatever small advances have been made for media freedom in Myanmar under 50 years of military rule.
In promoting press freedom, too many journalists are forced to pay a heavy price.