The Western Yangon District Court handed an additional sentence of 10 years in prison to freelance journalist Sut Ring Pan, also known as Pu Noi Tsawm, on Dec. 2, bringing her to a total of 13 years in prison, reported the Assistance Association for Myanmar-based Independent Journalists (AAMIJ).
“She was tortured and beaten up during the interrogation for 22 days,” the AAMIJ shared on its official social media account. Later, she was transferred to Yangon’s Insein Prison. Sut Ring Pan was arrested at her home in Yangon on Sept. 29, 2024. Sut Ring Pan, 26, has been reporting for over two years for various media outlets.
Sut Ring Pan’s family was informed by the military that she was taken for interrogation at Yangon’s Yay Kyi Ai military interrogation centre, following her arrest on Sept. 29, 2024.
Insein Prison Court later charged her under Section 505-A of the Penal Code for spreading “fake news” and “incitement” against the military. She was also charged under Section 50 (J) of the Counter-Terrorism Law for criticizing the military.
The Insein Prison Court sentenced her to three years in prison on May 16, 2025. She received an additional sentence of 10 years on Dec. 2.
Sut Ring Pan is currently held at Yangon’s Insein Prison. A source who assisted her family told Myitkyina News Journal (MNJ) that efforts by her family to appeal the sentencing are underway.
The regime filed charges against AAMIJ News for violating the Election Protection Law on Nov. 11. The law carries a minimum sentence of three years in prison and a maximum sentence of death, if convicted.
A total of 712 political prisoners were released, according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP).
“CPJ categorically condemns the severe sentence imposed on journalist Sut Ring Pan,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Myanmars junta claims to be on a path back to democracy, but continues to sentence journalists to outrageously long prison terms for their reporting. It must stop treating journalists as criminals now.”
The CPJ has documented that at least 27 journalists are being held in detention by the regime. It called on Naypyidaw to free all jailed journalists in Myanmar.
CPJ states that Myanmar has consistently ranked as one of the world’s worst jailers of journalists since the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021. Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in its World Press Freedom Index 2025, ranks Myanmar near the bottom at 169 out of 180 with 47 media workers held in prison.
The Independent Press Council Myanmar (IPCM) reported that seven journalists have been killed and at least 200 journalists have been arrested since the 2021 coup, according to IPCM.
The publication licenses of 15 media outlets, including DVB, have been revoked over the last five years since the coup.
