The protester stood up while Information Minister Ye Htut was speaking. PHOTO/HONG SAR
A solo protester interrupted a speech by Information Minister Ye Htut at an international media conference in Yangon this morning, holding up a sign that implored the Myanmar government to ‘stop beating, arresting, imprisoning journalists”.
According to a Coconuts Yangon contributor present at the International Press Institute event at the Chatrium Hotel, the demonstrator stood up to make his protest as the minister took to the podium. He left after a few minutes.
Ye Htut responded with a comment that “staging a protest in the conference venue at the hotel where we are hosting the IPI shows a change in Myanmar “, according to The Irrawaddy.
Some of the country’s media outlets vowed to boycott the conference, which runs through March 29, as an action against the repression of journalists in the country.
The decision came in response to the beating and detention of reporters covering recent student protests in Letpadan and the imprisonment of two Myanmar Post journalists for defamation after they published a story on the military.
