WUNRN
BURMA - WOMAN JOURNALIST JAILED
& CAMPAIGN FOR HER SUPPORT
The
Truth Tellers of
13 September 2011 - By South Asia Wired (Free Burma VJ)
It’s been two years almost to the day that Hla Hla Win
vanished. The 27-year-old Burmese journalist had been on an assignment in
central
Hla Hla Win was a video
journalist working for Democratic
Voice of Burma (DVB), a Norwegian-based news organisation, highly
respected for its independent reporting from inside the tightly controlled
country.
DVB is viewed by rulers of
Hla Hla Win was charged for
violating
After the Saffron revolution of
2007, pictures and footage of the massive monk-led protests and the following
repression were widely disseminated by the internet. Since then, most of the
protestors who were arrested and harshly punished by the state were charged
under the Electronics Act, which carries a minimum sentence of 20 years
imprisonment.
Campaign
While Hla Hla Win serves her prison sentence in Kathar under difficult
conditions, hundreds of people from around the world came together last week to
express their solidarity towards her struggle. A campaign called Free Burma VJ,
led by DVB, kicked off last week in
Protesters gathered outside the
Burmese embassies in these cities holding placards, wearing masks and t-shirts
to demand the release of Hla Hla Win and that of 17 other detained DVB
journalists.
Repressive laws
Geraldine May, the campaign coordinator for Free Burma VJ condemns the
repressive laws: “They are excuses that the government uses to arrest
journalists working for DVB. They first arrest the journalists under suspicion
of violating these laws and interrogate and torture them further to gain
information,” she says.
The campaign hopes to raise
awareness about the harsh treatment meted out to Burmese journalists for
performing their role as watchdogs. Though the junta makes a show of ignoring
dissidents, May believes that in reality, they’re keeping a close eye on
developments: “ We know that many users in
No press freedom
According to the latest survey conducted by Reporters Without Borders,
Foreign journalists can only
enter
Soe Thwe*, a DVB journalist in
He explains that he often disguises himself before going for an assignment. “I
sometimes wear a scarf, sometimes glasses, sometimes even a fake moustache. The
military intelligence is always around and I don’t want to be noticed,” Soe
Thwe says.
Courage
Another DVB VJ from
These people - the journalists
of DVB and others like them – are the keepers of the truth in a country that
has in effect declared truth to be Public Enemy No. 1. And they are clear
about the reasons why they take such appalling risks day after day: “I love my
country. This is not how it’s supposed to be. It has to be free. There has to
be democracy and I will do whatever I can to promote democracy,” says Myen Thu.
*Some of the names in this
piece have been changed.