12 PRESS FREEDOM SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014 Press freedom roll back in Myanmar? The killing of a Myanmar reporter while on custody and the detention of six journalists by a Yangon court for “state defamation” rises concern over a roll back of press freedom in the former junta-run state. Myanmar’s press council Saturday announced on October 25 that the army had ad-mitted to shooting dead a man in its custody who activists claim was a reporter de-tained after covering clashes near the conflict-hit eastern border. Aung Naing was gunned down as he tried to flee detention in Kyaikmaraw town in south-eastern Mon state on October 4, the interim Myanmar Press Council (MPC) said citing a rare statement issued by the military. He “tried to escape by fighting with a soldier and attempting to steal his weapon” said the document seen by AFP, adding that Aung Naing was suspected of being a member of a local armed group. This was contradicted by activists and local media reports which said he was a free-lance journalist covering unrest in the region, where fighting between government troops and rebels has flared in recent weeks. The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the death of Aung Naing was “reprehensible”, adding that he was the first reporter killed in the former junta-run nation since 2007. After Aung Naing’s death sparked international concern and following Aung Na-ing’s widow, Thandar, vehement denial of the military version of events, the journalist’s body has been exhumed and sent for an autopsy on November 5. The United States has urged a “transparent” investigation into the death, which comes as Myanmar is facing heat over a string of high-profile prosecutions of journal-ists. The jailing of several journalists this year have also raised fears that Myanmar could be sliding backwards on media freedoms. On October 16, five editorial staff and one publisher were each sentenced to two years in prison, according to a statement from the Myanmar Press Council (MPC), which criticised the jail terms. The group said it “very much regrets this sentence, par-ticularly while there are ongoing meetings to build trust and understanding” between Thandar (C), the widow of Aung Naing, attends his funeral on November 7, 2014. Soe Than WIN / AFP the press, government and army. The six journalists were prosecuted after their weekly Bi Mon Te Nay news journal published an account of a small protest in the commercial hub Yangon which mistak-enly suggested that the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi would form an interim government. The MPC announced it would call for the jail sentences to be reduced by a higher court. These arrests were the latest in a growing number of journalists being jailed in the Southeast Asian nation, prompting rights groups to warn that it is sliding back towards the harsh methods used to stifle free speech under decades of junta rule which ended in 2011. / AFP
Asian Newspaper Focus 09/10_2014
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