A Myanmar military tribunal on Wednesday sentenced a photojournalist to 20 years in prison with hard labour, his employer said.
Myanmar Now staffer Sai Zaw Thaike, 40, was arrested in May while he was reporting the impact of Cyclone Mocha in the neighbouring country's Rakhine state.
This is the longest known prison term handed down to a media professional in the junta-ruled country since the 2021 army coup, according to Reuters. Myanmar's military overthrew the democratically elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021.
The exact charges against him are unclear, he earlier faced charges for misinformation, incitement, and sedition under article 27 of the Natural Disaster Management Law, section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, and sections 505a and 124a of the colonial-era Penal Code.
Myanmar Now reported that he was deprived of legal representation and family visits during the three months between his arrest and conviction.
"The military council sentenced Ko Sai Zaw Thaike at his first trial on September 6 at a court inside Insein prison without having chance to have lawyer or defend himself," said a statement released by Myanmar Now.
“All of Sai Zaw Thaike’s colleagues at Myanmar Now and I are deeply saddened to hear of the lengthy sentence handed down to him,” Myanmar Now quoted its editor-in-chief Swe Win as saying.
“His sentencing is yet another indication that freedom of the press has been completely quashed under the military junta’s rule, and shows the hefty price independent journalists in Myanmar must pay for their professional work,” he added.
The outlet said Thaike is its second journalist who has been arrested since the 2021 coup. Video journalist Kay Zon Nway was arrested while covering a protest in Yangon in February 2021. He was later released on June 30.
According to the Detained Journalist Group, more 150 media professionals have been arrested and four were killed since the coup. In 2022, Myanmar ranked as the third-worst country for imprisoning journalists worldwide, after China and Iran, according to Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).