Report on chemical weapons earn Myanmar journalists jail term with hard labour
MANDALAY, Myanmar - A report about the Myanmar government's alleged secretive chemical weapons programme has earned four journalists and the head of a weekly newspaper a punishment of 10 years in prison with hard labour.
"All five journalists were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment," said defence lawyer Wah Win Maung.
The five were sentenced Thursday in Pakokku Township Court, inviting severe criticism from journalists in the quasi-military ruled country, which has announced major democratic reforms, including free media.
Activists and journalists opposing the harsh punishment said the jail terms were a major blow to recently won news media freedoms in the country after five decades of censorship and persecution.
The four reporters and the chief executive belonged to the Unity journal, which closed in June partly because of the expense related to the case.
"This is injustice!" U Tint Hsan, the chief executive of Unity, shouted in the court as he was led away from the courtroom. "This is an attempt to control the press!"
The accused have said that they would appeal against the decision.
The stories were published late January. The reports alleged that Myanmar's military was planning to build a weapons factory on a 3,000-acre plot of farmland in Myanmar's Magwe Region. The operation was said to include the development of chemical weapons. The magazine later published a denial from authorities that chemical weapons were being manufactured.
Myanmar Journalist Network (MJN) in a statement opposed the sentencing alleging it is "intimidating the reporters and the citizens' rights to know the information".
The association held prayers at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon Friday for the freedom of the sentenced journalists. Protesting media persons wore T-shirts flashing "Stop Killing Media".
Than Htay, a journalist activist with the network, threatened a "movement" if the government didn't free the five jailed media men.
Hard labour was added to prison sentencing during the full military rule in Myanmar. It included building roads and digging ditches.
Reporters Without Borders said it was a "dark day" for media freedom in the country ranked 145 out of 180 countries in the 2014 index of the rights of the press around the world.
The ranking is far below the areas currently erupting in conflict, including Afghanistan and South Sudan.
"Clearly, real press freedom remains a distant dream for Burma (Myanmar), where the government still gets to decide what is fit to print, and who has the right to inform (or misinform) the public," said a commentary in the Irrawaddy, a news website, after Thursday's sentences were announced.
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