Two reporters in military-ruled Myanmar have been jailed for spreading “false news”
A Myanmar court jailed the two journalists under a colonial-era law that was recently revised to make spreading “false news” a crime.
The court ruling comes as part of a continuing crackdown on reporting in the troubled country.
A military court in southern Myeik sentenced Aung Kyaw of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and Zaw Zaw, a freelance reporter for Mizzima News, to two years in prison over their reporting of the anti-coup protests that continue across Myanmar.
Aung Kyaw, who live-streamed an arrest, is the third DVB journalist to be jailed since the coup triggered a wave of protests and calls for the restoration of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
841 people have killed in the violence.
The military has also cracked down on independent media, revoking the licences of a number of news organisations, including DVB and Mizzima.
“The military junta is illegally detaining Aung Kyaw,”
