Geneva: Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), the global media safety and rights body, expresses serious concern over the imprisonment of fearless Burmese journalist-filmmaker Shin Daewe for life by the ruling military junta of Myanmar (also known as Burma and Brahmadesh) and demands her immediate release along with other over 50 jailed scribes. The award-winning documentary producer was sentenced to life imprisonment on 10 January 2024 by a military court inside Insein prison in Yangon (formerly Rangoon) on terrorism charges. Shin (50) was arrested by the Burmese soldiers from a bus terminal in Yangon on 15 October as she was shooting videos with a drone.
Once working as a video journalist for the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), Shin covered various socio-political issues affecting the Southeast Asian nation. Later she developed herself as a brave documentary filmmaker and many of her productions were honoured in international events. Her work titled Now I’m 13, which narrates the struggle of an illiterate but intelligent young girl in central rural Myanmar endeavoring for education, received appreciation from the art connoisseurs. Her husband alleged that she had been repeatedly tortured during interrogation by the junta forces.
“It’s shocking that the military rulers have imprisoned a lady journalist-filmmaker with the allegation of abetting terrorism in the troubled country, which is undergoing an almost civil war since the junta orchestrated a coup on 1 February 2021 dethroning a democratically elected government under the leadership of Nobel laureate Aung Sah Suu Kyi. The junta (which identified itself as the Military Council) must unconditionally release Shin Daewe along with other detained and imprisoned journalists,” said Blaise Lempen, president of PEC (www.pressemblem.ch).
Days back, the Independent Press Council Myanmar (IPCM) also denounced the arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of journalists by the junta in the last three months. It confirmed that 52 journalists remain unjustly incarcerated by the military council to date. The IPCM asserted its commitment to expediting the release of detained journalists promptly and also safeguarding the rights of media outlets to express their news and views freely. The council also decided to collaborate with other organizations dedicated to the safety of media workers, exerting every possible effort to secure the freedom of journalists and prevent the recurrence of such arrests.
PEC’s South & Southeast Asia representative Nava Thakuria informed that since the last military coup, the junta forces arrested over 170 journalists and only 118 have been released. The poverty-stricken country of around 55 million population has already lost four journalists namely Pu Tuidim (founder of Khonumthung News Agency), Sai Win Aung (editor of Federal News Journal) along with Soe Naing and Aye Kaw (both freelance photojournalists) due to junta atrocities since the coup day in different occasions.
