Two foreign journalists who were arrested for allegedly flying a drone outside Myanmar’s parliament building last month received a third criminal charge from a Naypyidaw court yesterday, this one for violating the country’s Immigration Act by committing “illegal acts.”
If convicted, the journalists could receive between six months and five years in prison.
Singaporean Lau Hon Meng and Malaysian Mok Choy Lin were working on a video for Turkish Radio and Television when they were arrested along with Myanmar journalist Aung Naing Soe and driver Hla Tin on Oct. 27.
The four have already been convicted and sentenced to two months in prison under the Aircraft Act, which allows authorities to take legal action against anyone who flies an aircraft over “any specified area, either absolutely or at specified times.”
They also received a second charge under the Import-Export Act for importing a drone, which carries a three-year sentence. The court rejected a request to drop that charge during today’s hearing.
The lawyer for Aung Naing Soe and Hla Tin has argued that his clients should go free because they did not own or operate the drone.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urged Myanmar officials to drop the charges against the all four journalists on the basis that Myanmar’s legislation pertaining to journalists is unclear.
“Reporters should never be jailed for their reporting activities, particularly in a country that makes pretensions of being a democracy,” CPJ’s Southeast Asia representative Shawn Crispin told AP.
Many critics of the case pointed out today that Aung Naing Soe was spending his birthday in prison.
“Let’s acknowledge how ridiculous it is that Aung Naing Soe is today spending his 27th birthday in a cell because he interpreted for his colleagues. He has spent his career standing up for press freedom and human rights, and that’s exactly why authorities have identified him as a threat,” said David Baulk, a Myanmar Human Rights Specialist for Fortify Rights.
The next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 4.
