Police have begun investigating the Tanintharyi Weekly Journal, which is being sued by the deputy director of the Tanintharyi Region government over a satirical piece that some have interpreted as an attack on the region’s chief minister.
The police investigation as set in motion by the judge assigned to the case because the plaintiff does not know what law the journal may have violated. Last week, police took a statement from the journal’s editor, but charges have not been brought at this stage.
The article “Politicking with a Smile” was published on Nov. 20. It describes a woman seeking re-election as a ward administrator who admits to not knowing how to govern. To some readers, the character was a thinly veiled reference to Tanintharyi Region Chief Minister Dr. Le Le Maw, who once told local media that she did not know how to run her administration.
Regional government deputy director Aye Lu was among the readers who interpreted the article this way, and he filed a lawsuit against the publication at the Dawei Township court on Nov. 23, saying it defamed Chief Minister Dr. Le Le Maw and her government.
The leadership of the Tanintharyi Weekly Journal maintain that their article was satirical and intended as a commentary on local politics, not an attack on any individual.
The investigation is still in its earliest stages. Its results will determine whether the court takes action against the journal, Judge Kyaw Myint told Dawei Watch, a parent publication of the Tanintharyi Weekly Journal, last week.
