Journalist Than Htike Myint was sentenced to five years in jail under Myanmar’s Counter Terrorism Law on April 3, for having contacts on his mobile phone linked to the People’s Defense Force, the armed wing of the country’s government-in-exile. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the Myanmar Journalists Network (MJN), in condemning the arbitrary sentencing and calling for the immediate release of all jailed media workers in the country.
Than Htike Myint, a reporter for news agency Myaelatt Athan covering central Myanmar, was arrested by junta police and military personnel on February 6 in Myanaung Township, in the Ayeyarwady Region, after returning from exile to visit his pregnant wife. He was interrogated, tortured, and held for seven days by soldiers at the 51st Light Infantry Battalion Base before being transferred to Myanaung Police Station.
The journalist was detained until his sentencing by a regime court on April 3 under Section 52(a) of the Counter Terrorism Law, which holds a sentence of between three to seven years in prison for activities that ‘knowingly involve a terrorist group’. The junta charged Than Htike Myintwith possessing contacts and call records of People’s Defence Force members on his mobile phone, an armed wing of the National Unity Government (NUG) formed following the military coup on February 1, 2021, considered a terrorist organisation by the junta.
Myaelatt Athan editor-in-chief Salai Kaung Myat Min said that these contacts were needed for Than Htike Myint’s reporting, with the outlet not making news of his conviction and sentencing public until April 29. He has since been transferred to Ayeyarwady division’s Hinthada Prison.
Than Htike Myint began reporting for Myaelatt Athan in January 2025 and had previously worked as a correspondent for independent media outlets Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and Mizzima. He had been targeted by Myanmar’s military in 2021 and sentenced to jail under Section 505(a) of the country’s Penal Code for ‘incitement’, before being released in 2022 during a regime amnesty.
Myanmar’s military has been in entrenched in a brutal civil war against the country’s ethnic armed groups and the NUG People’s Defence Force Soldiers since seizing power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in 2021, with independent journalists continuing to remain a target amid a crackdown on freedom of expression and association. Myanmar is the world’s third-worst jailer of journalists with 51 behind bars in February 2025, according to the International Centre for Not-for-Profit Law.
The MJN said: “The military junta, which seized power, has arrested journalist Than Htike Myint and sentenced him to five years in prison under the Counter-Terrorism Law. This is yet another incident aimed at intimidating Myanmar’s media professionals. Myanmar Journalists Network strongly condemns the sentencing of a journalist under the Counter-Terrorism Law simply for doing their job. We urge media organisations to unite and demand an end to the use of criminal charges to arrest and imprison journalists.”
The IFJ said: “The arbitrary sentencing of journalist Than Htike Myint on terrorism charges in yet another blatant attempt by Myanmar’s military junta to silence independent reporting and quash press freedom. The IFJ calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all jailed media workers in the country and stands firmly in solidarity with colleagues both inside Myanmar and in-exile who continue to report in the face of harassment, intimidation, arrest and violence.
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