Guwahati (The Stellar News): Reporters sans/without Borders (RSF) condemns the criminal libel suit that Myanmar’s armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, have brought against two Rakhine scribes over a story about the disappearance of rice from a village in a remote part of western Rakhine (Arakan) State, although the military had every chance to give their version before the story was published.
“Ne Win San, an editor of Development Media Group (DMG), a regional news agency based in Rakhine capital city of Sittwe and DMG reporter Ma Hnin Nwe are facing possible three-year prison sentences as a result of the lawsuit brought by the military under article 66(d) of Myanmar’s telecommunications law, which criminalizes defamation,” said a statement issued by the Paris based media rights body.
The military are suing over a story published on 10 January about the disappearance of rice supplies from a remote village outside Kyauktaw, a town in the north of Rakhine State, in which reporter Ma Hnin Nwe quoted villagers as saying around six soldiers stole the rice. He asked local Tatmadaw officers to comment on these claims at the time, but they refused, added the RSF statement.
“It is unacceptable for the Tatmadaw to bring a complaint before a criminal court when its representatives had every opportunity to give their version of events before the story’s publication,” said Daniel Bastard, head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk adding that misuse of the defamation law is almost certainly designed solely to intimidate DMG’s journalists and all other reporters working in Rakhine State.
