• Burmese
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
29 °c
Ashburn
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Press Council Says Military Will Not Pressure Judge in Detained Journalists’ Case

The Irrawaddy by The Irrawaddy
July 27, 2017
in Burma
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
Detained journalists talk to the media outside the Hsipaw courthouse on July 18. / DVB

Detained journalists talk to the media outside the Hsipaw courthouse on July 18. / DVB

4.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

YANGON — The Myanmar Army affirmed that it would not put pressure on judges handling the case of three journalists detained in Shan State and facing charges under the Unlawful Associations Act, according to a Myanmar Press Council member who met with military personnel on Thursday.

Myanmar Journalism Institute’s Executive Director, U Thiha Saw—who is also a member of the Myanmar Press Council, the body tasked with negotiating with the authorities—described his discussions with army officials to The Irrawaddy.

“What they told me is, the army has specifically learned that the case was not carried out aggressively. At the moment, the cases are already handled by the courts and the police. So, the army will not pressure or weigh in on the judiciary’s role. The judiciary will decide on what they think is justifiable, regarding the case,” he said.

RelatedPosts

The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

June 19, 2025
807
Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

June 13, 2025
1.9k
How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

June 11, 2025
1.3k

U Thiha Saw said the army typically opens a court case if they feel that an individual’s conduct violates the existing laws, and therefore, “they [the army] will not drop the charges against the three journalists.”

The Irrawaddy’s Lawi Weng, also known as U Thein Zaw, and U Aye Nai and Pyae Bone Aung from the Democratic Voice of Burma, were arrested on June 26 in Namhsan Township on their way back from covering a drug-burning ceremony held by the ethnic armed group the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) to mark the United Nations’ International Day Against Drug Abuse.

The trio—and three men who drove them through the TNLA area—were charged under Article 17(1) of the colonial-era Unlawful Associations Act for contacting the TNLA and were placed in detention in Hsipaw prison.

Free speech advocates, press members and rights groups have denounced the move by the military and cited it as a threat to press freedom and an attempt to intimidate journalists for doing their jobs.

On Thursday, one day before the reporters’ court hearing was scheduled to take place at the Hsipaw Township Court in northern Shan State, Amnesty International called for the immediate release of the three journalists.

In the statement, Amnesty International accused the Myanmar authorities of using “a slew of draconian laws to intimidate, harass, arrest and imprison critics and media workers,” for years.

“This is a clear attempt by the authorities to intimidate journalists and silence their critical coverage,” the statement said. “It is exactly in northern Shan State and the other ethnic areas wracked by conflict, where appalling human rights abuses are rife, that independent journalism is needed the most,” it added.

James Gomez, Amnesty International’s Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific said that the current authorities have been using the same patterns of repression for which Myanmar was notorious in the past, and that many hoped the days of repressive legal barriers to silence criticism had ended.

“The farcical charges against these journalists must be dropped immediately,” Gomez said in the statement. “They have done nothing but carry out their work peacefully.”

Htet Naing Zaw contributed to this report from Naypyidaw.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: CourtsLawsMediaMilitaryPress Freedom
The Irrawaddy

The Irrawaddy

...

Similar Picks:

AA Urges Myanmar Junta Troops to Surrender as Western Command Burns
War Against the Junta

AA Urges Myanmar Junta Troops to Surrender as Western Command Burns

by The Irrawaddy
December 18, 2024
25.3k

Ethnic army reportedly poised to capture regime’s last stronghold in Rakhine State.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar General in Charge of Shan State Disaster Handed Surprise Promotion
Burma

Myanmar General in Charge of Shan State Disaster Handed Surprise Promotion

by The Irrawaddy
February 5, 2024
24.4k

Naing Naing Oo elevated to Lieutenant-General and made chief of powerful Bureau of Special Operations No. 2, in a reshuffle...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar’s Chief of Eastern Command Purged After Karenni Defeats
Burma

Myanmar’s Chief of Eastern Command Purged After Karenni Defeats

by The Irrawaddy
January 12, 2024
20.1k

Major-General Hla Moe is reportedly the latest junta commander to pay the price for sweeping gains made by resistance forces. 

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Counteroffensives Failing Across Country: Analysts
Analysis

Myanmar Junta Counteroffensives Failing Across Country: Analysts

by Hein Htoo Zan
September 20, 2024
16.7k

Three major operations to retake territory from ethnic armies and their allies are being hampered by troop shortages, experts say.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Orders All Security Personnel to Frontline as Losses Mount in Hard-Hit Regional Commands
Burma

Myanmar Junta Orders All Security Personnel to Frontline as Losses Mount in Hard-Hit Regional Commands

by The Irrawaddy
May 31, 2024
13.5k

Full-time military service order covers soldiers, personnel, police and border guards in eight regional commands.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Begins Forced Conscription of Women in Some Areas, Residents Say
Burma

Myanmar Junta Begins Forced Conscription of Women in Some Areas, Residents Say

by Hein Htoo Zan
May 31, 2024
13.5k

The regime is selecting women from lists of eligible conscripts and building barracks for them in Ayeyarwady; in Bago, women...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Blood and Silk: Power and Conflict in Modern Southeast Asia by Michael Vatikiotis. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2016. 336 pages.

Blood and Silk: Power and Conflict in Modern Southeast Asia

People displaced in the conflict between Kachin Independence Army and Myanmar’s military over the control of an amber mine are seen at a Christian church in Tanai Township on June 14, 2017. / Soe Zayar Tun / Reuters

Myanmar Army Unnerves Ethnic Kachin

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

China is Systematically Dismantling Tibetan Monastic Traditions

China is Systematically Dismantling Tibetan Monastic Traditions

1 week ago
1.9k
The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

5 days ago
807

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta Scrambles for Chinese Energy Investment as Lights Go Out

    Myanmar Junta Scrambles for Chinese Energy Investment as Lights Go Out

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • New Law on Civil Servants by Myanmar’s Parallel Gov’t Troubles Observers

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Moves to Seize Sagaing Roads

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Certifying a Chinese Security Invasion; Boosting Ties With Nuclear North Korea; and More

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Changes Election Law Ahead of Polls

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.