Editors fined for article quoting source calling president an ‘idiot’

Two editors at the Myanmar Herald were fined about $800 each on Tuesday in a lawsuit that revolves around the word “idiot.”
 
They and nine other staffers – who were acquitted – were sued by the Ministry of Information in November for violating the country’s new media law, parts of which deal with “reputation”, the Associated Press reported.
 
What’s weird about all this is no one at the newspaper called the president an “idiot,” or in other translations of the word, a “fool.” The offending description came from a political analyst who was quoted in a story that the newspaper published.
 
Paying the price will be the editor-in-chief Kyaw Swa Win and his deputy Arnt Khaung Min, according to the AP.
 
Myanmar’s media law was adopted in 2014 and contains many broad regulations that have been criticized for being too broadly worded, leaving journalists open to prosecution.
 
Photo / Coconuts Media