Sai Zaw Thaike is serving 20 years in prison since 2023 after being convicted of violating Section 124 of the Sedition Law, Section 66 (D) of the Telecommunications Law, and Section 21 of the Natural Disaster Management Law. He was arrested during a reporting trip to Arakan State to cover the devastation caused by the Cyclone Mocha in May 2023. (Credit: Myanmar Now)
Shin Daewe, a 52-year-old documentary filmmaker and former DVB journalist was arrested in Yangon on Oct. 15, 2023. She was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of violating Section 52 (J) of the Counter-Terrorism Law. (Credit: IWMF)
Sut Ring Pan, 26, who writes under the pen name Pu Noi Tswam, was working as freelance reporter for several news outlets at the time of her arrest in Yangon, on Sept. 29, 2024. She was sentenced to a total of 13 years in prison for spreading fake news and incitement against the military on Dec. 2. (Credit: MNJ)
Mu Dra, a Border News Agency reporter, was detained by the ethnic armed group the Arakan Army in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, on Sept. 20. Her whereabouts are unknown. (Credit: Border News Agency)
Myat Thu Tun (aka Phoe Thiha), a former DVB and Western News reporter, was one of seven journalists killed by the regime on Jan. 31, 2024. His body was recovered in a bomb shelter in Mrauk-U Township, northern Arakan State, on Feb. 5. (Credit: Western News)
Win Htut Oo, a citizen journalist working for DVB, was killed along with freelance journalist Htet Myat Thu, during a raid by the military on a home in Kyaikto Township, Mon State, on Aug. 21, 2024. (Credit: DVB)
The Committed to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has documented seven Myanmar journalists killed since the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021. It adds that Myanmar is now one of the world’s worst jailers of journalists.
Reporters Without Border (RSF), in its World Press Freedom Index 2025, ranks Myanmar near the bottom at 169 out of 180 with 51 media workers held in prison, who have been detained since the 2021 coup.
The Independent Press Council Myanmar (IPCM), established by media experts from Myanmar in Thailand, reported that at least 200 journalists have been arrested over the last five years.
Fifteen independent Myanmar media outlets, including DVB, have had their licenses revoked since the 2021 coup. The IPCM states that 64 media outlets have had to set up operations in exile.
