Bangkok, Thailand, May 2, 2025—Myanmar authorities must immediately release Myaelatt Athan news agency journalist Than Htike Myint, who was sentenced to five years in prison on terrorism charges, which are being misused to harass, threaten, and imprison reporters, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.
On April 3, a Myanaung Township court in southwest Myanmar convicted Than Htike Myint under Section 52(a) of the Counterterrorism Law for having rebel People’s Defense Force contacts on his cell phone, Myaelatt Athan editor-in-chief Salai Kaung Myat Min told CPJ, noting that such sources were needed for the journalist’s reporting.
“CPJ strongly condemns the severe sentence given to journalist Than Htike Myint,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Myanmar’s junta must stop conflating news reporting with terrorism and cease treating independent war reporters as criminals.”
Than Htike Myint was arrested on February 6 in Myanaung Township’s Ein Pin town, where he had temporarily returned from hiding to visit his then-pregnant wife, according to the exile-run Independent Myanmar Journalists Association, a press group, and the independent DVB news site.
Soldiers beat Than Htike Myint during interrogations at the 51st Light Infantry Battalion Base, where he was held for seven days before being transferred to Myanaung Police Station, those sources and Salai Kaung Myat Min said, adding that he is being detained at Hinthada Prison, also in the coastal Ayeyarwady Region.
Myaelatt Athan did not make the news of his conviction and sentencing public until April 29.
Myanmar’s military has been battling pro-democracy fighters and other ethnic groups since seizing power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in 2021.
Than Htike Myint began reporting for Myaelatt Athan in January and previously worked with the local DVB and Mizzima news groups as a reporter, Salai Kaung Myat Min and news reports said.
Myanmar was the world’s third-worst jailer of journalists with 35 behind bars in CPJ’s latest annual prison census on December 1, 2024.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Information did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment on the allegations of abuse and terrorism charges.
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide. We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.
