*DVB once again calls for the immediate release of its reporter, Aung San Lin*

DVB journalist Aung San Lin was today sentenced to six years in prison with hard labor by Wetlet Township Court. 

He was arrested without warrant at his home in Pinzin village, Wetlet township, Sagaing, at midnight on Dec. 11 of last year. 

The 47-year-old received two years imprisonment under Sec. 505(a) and four under Sec. 52(b) of the Anti-Terrorism Law. 

The citizen journalist’s family had lost contact with the reporter for one month following his arrest and lodged a complaint with their local police station concerning his disappearance. 

On Jan. 13, his family was informed that he had been moved to Shwebo Prison and charged under Sec. 505(a). A tribunal scheduled to be held in Wetlet Prison on Jan. 26 was canceled. 

Aung San Lin was transferred to Wetlet Township Police Station in May and eventually presented to Wetlet Township Court with additional anti-terror charges.

Today, a military court sentenced our reporter to six years imprisonment — seven months after his arrest. 

DVB has learned that he will be held in Shwebo Prison, yet has not been provided with a definitive date.

145 journalists — including five from DVB — have been arrested following the military coup, with 80 released. Four have so far been killed (one under military interrogation), and 25 of the 61 currently detained are serving prison sentences handed down by military courts.

Most of those detained have been charged under Sec. 505(a) of the Penal Code — the military’s new wide-reaching sedition law — and Sec. 50(a) of Burma’s Anti-Terrorism Law.