Photojournalist Kyaw Swar Tun, who was convicted last year of violating criminal incitement laws, was released from Insein Prison in Yangon on Thursday. He previously worked as a reporter for Mizzima, 7Day TV and Myanmar Pressphoto Agency.
“I hope for the swift release of other journalists who, like me, are being detained in prisons across the country,” Kyaw Swar Tun told DVB after his early release from a three-year prison sentence.
Kyaw Swar Tun was arrested in Yangon’s Thingangyun Township after flying a drone on Sept. 8, 2022. He was convicted in January 2023 under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code, which criminalizes the spread of “fake news” and inciting unrest against the military.
It is a law frequently used by the regime in Naypyidaw, which seized power after the 2021 military coup, to prosecute its opponents.
Seven journalists have died since the 2021 coup, including DVB Citizen journalist (CJ) Win Htut Oo, who was killed with his friend and fellow reporter Htet Myat Thu, during a military raid on his home in Mon State’s Kyaikto Township on Aug. 22.
Around 60 journalists are currently being held in prisons across the country, according to the France-based press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF). It ranks Myanmar 171 out of 190, at the bottom of its 2024 World Press Freedom Index.
Myanmar is listed among countries with the least amount of media freedom globally and the biggest jailers of journalists such as China, Vietnam, North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Bahrain, Syria and Eritrea.
At least 172 media workers, including publishers, photographers, reporters, and journalists, have been arrested since the 2021 coup, according to DVB data. More than 50 journalists have outstanding arrest warrants, and 14 media outlets, including DVB, have had their publishing licenses revoked since 2021.
