Myanmar Press Council released a statement on May 16, addressing the issue of reporters in Myanmar being charged under criminal laws that have no any relation to news media law and insisting that media personnel should only be charged under news media law.
Reporters are facing arrest, investigation and lawsuit outside of news media law. If reporters are to be charged over a certain action or crime, complainants should report it to Myanmar Press Council first, the statement reads.
“They have to inform Myanmar Press Council. Only after both parties fail to reach agreement, charge is to be brought in line with news media law,” the Secretary of Myanmar Press Council U Myint Kyaw said.
Chief Editor of Rakhine-based Narinjara News Agency U Khaing Myat Kyaw said the phenomenon of reporters being arrested over reporting an ongoing arm conflict in Rakhine State may result in a frenzy of anxiety among reporters because they will feel exposed to easily arrest and charge even though their news are correct.
Reporters have no choice but to correctly report the current situation because if they could not present news as it happens, trust between people and reporters may collapse, he continued.
“We are in the state of being unable to ignore the exact situation. Our reports may somehow include news of Tatmataw. If they become discontented with our reports, arrest and lawsuit could easily follow. This is a very serious condition. Reporters are in the situation of questioning themselves whether they should report their news correctly. Anxiety of being arrested and charged prevails among reporters. The current situation is destructive for reporters,” U Khaing Myat Kyaw said.
U Tun Aung Kyaw, the secretary of Arakan National Party, said Myanmar news media law is not that weak. If they want to charge media personnel over their news, they should use news media law. Resorting to other criminal laws to charge reporters or journalists is unnecessary act of causing fear to limit press freedom.
“If they want to sue media for something, the most relevant way is to use news media law. Using any other law against media rather than news media law is just wrong,” U Tun Aung Kyaw said.
At present, a senior editor of Irrawaddy News Agency is charged under the Telecommunications Law's Section 66(d) at Kyauktada police station in Yangon. Rakhine-based Development Media Group’s Chief Editor is also charged under Article 17(2) of the Unlawful Association Act. And a reporter of Channel Mandalay News Agency Ko Nanda, who had been covering a demonstration in Mandalay's Pathein Gyi Township on May 15, was arrested on that day.
Under democratic governments in Myanmar, there have been only two lawsuits against media that are charged under news media law—one under USDP government and the other under NLD.
