A regime-controlled court in Yangon has sentenced a photojournalist from Myanmar Now to 20 years in prison for his coverage of Cyclone Mocha, which ravaged parts of Myanmar’s western Rakhine State, neighboring Chin State and Sagaing and Magwe regions in May.
Sai Zaw was arrested on May 23 along with four other people—local charity leader Wai Hun Aung, the charity leader’s daughter and a staff member, and one other person—while traveling from Rakhine’s capital Sittwe to Ponnagyun Township with relief supplies for storm-affected communities.
Wai Hun Aung, his daughter and the staff member were released after questioning. However, the two others were detained as they were found to have “connections with illegal news outlets and will be detained for interrogation,” junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun said at the time.
Myanmar Now said the photojournalist was sentenced on Wednesday by a court in Yangon’s Insein Prison on four charges including violations of sedition, disaster management and incitement laws. The fate of the person arrested along with Sai Zaw, who used to work for The Irrawaddy, is not yet known.
The news agency said Sai Zaw was denied a fair trial as he was not represented by a lawyer. He is the news outlet’s third journalist to be arrested by the regime since the coup. The other two, including US citizen Danny Fenster, have been released.
Since the 2021 coup, the military regime has banned at least six media outlets—The Irrawaddy, 7Day News, Myanmar Now, Mizzima, DVB and Khit Thit Media—by revoking their publishing licenses. All except 7Day News continue to operate and report on Myanmar, mostly from exile.
Myanmar ranked 173rd out of 180 countries in the 2023 Press Freedom Index. The regime is currently holding 69 journalists and one media worker in detention, according to Reporters Without Borders.
Cyclone Mocha wreaked havoc in northern Rakhine State when it made landfall on May 14, killing more than 140 people. The regime banned international aid agencies from conducting relief operations in storm-affected areas.
