Journalist Ah Hla Lay Thuzar, also known as Thuzar, was sentenced to two years in prison by Insein special court for “causing fear, spreading false news and agitating crimes against a government employee” under Section 505 (a) of the penal code, on 22 November.

She was arrested at Pyi Yeik Mon Housing in Yangon City’s Kamayut Township on 1 September 2021 and held in pre-trial detention for 15 months under Section 505 (a) of the Penal Code.

A close friend of hers said: “I thought she had been released as part of the National day amnesty [on 17 November]. Some other journalists were released on that day, but not her. They have now sentenced her to two years in prison. This is an unjust conviction. I don’t think journalism is a crime.”

Ah Hla Lay Thuzar had been working as a journalist for nearly 15 years and her work has appeared in the Modern Journal, RFA News, 7 Days News Media, and Friday Time, amongst others.

Since the February 2021 coup she had been working as a freelance reporter for the Friday Time Journal and the MPA, according to local media reports.

She had continued working as a journalist after the coup but had been in hiding from May 2021 until her arrest in September of that year.

According to the Reporters Without Borders' Press Freedom Barometer, 135 journalists have been arrested in Myanmar since the military coup and 52 media workers are currently still being held in Myanmar's prisons.