Foreign media groups slam detentions

“We firmly condemn the detention of these journalists and call on the authorities to release them without delay,” Lucie Morillon, RSF’s head of research, said in the statement.

“This latest violation of freedom of information is indicative of legislative gaps in Burma, which is finding it hard to adopt a media law. The public has a right to be informed on a subject of general interest like this. Journalists who are just doing their job must be protected, and if anyone has to be prosecuted, it should be the newspaper. Under no circumstances should journalists be imprisoned because of the content of their articles,” she added.

The CPJ released a statement on Monday objecting to the detention of Unity Weekly’s journalists and demanding their immediate release.

“Charging the reporters under the official secrets act is proof that Myanmar lacks legal reforms. Producing weapons is a major issue for Myanmar’s political optics, and it is also internationally significant. Therefore, it should be no surprise that reporters would write stories on this. Reporters should not be threatened or detained nowadays,” said Shawn Crispin, senior representative for the Southeast Asian chapter of the CPJ.

The authorities, meanwhile, have seized copies of the offending Unity Weekly issue throughout the country, the RSF reported.

In the 2013 RSF press freedom index, Myanmar rose 18 places to be ranked 151st out of 179 countries.