Jailed journo defiant after release
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In Myanmar, a person can be imprisoned over a fabricated story about them, said Ma Khine, an Eleven Media Group reporter released from jail yesterday after serving a three-month sentence.
"Mine was just a minor case in comparison with other cases that happened while journalists were covering news,” she said in front of Loikaw Prison.
“ I have already heard the judicial pillar is deteriorating. But I really came to know more about it when I myself suffered.
“I knew one thing when I faced charges by my plaintiff, and that is a person could be imprisoned after a story has been made up.
"By looking at the charges against me, even an ordinary person can know that my imprisonment was unfair, as well as a trap.
“How could a judge have not known about this? I am wondering how many people have suffered like me."
Ma Khine highlighted the case of Naw Khine Khine Aye, EMG's regional reporter in Kayah State, who was sentenced to three months in jail after she was charged with trespassing, using abusive language and defamation while covering a news story about pirated video rentals on October 27.
She was charged after visiting a lawyer, Aye Aye Phyo, who filed a lawsuit against her.
Ma Khine's was imprisoned by Mya Min Han, deputy judge of Loikaw Township Court.
Ma Khine filed an appeal against her jail sentence to Loikaw District Court on January 2, arguing her sentence was wrong in terms of both the legal process and reality, and it was clear that she had acted in conformity with the code of journalistic ethics.
The court, however, turned down her appeal.
On January 7, more than 100 journalists staged a protest in Yangon against Ma Khine's imprisonment, denouncing the threat to press freedom and what they labelled an unfair court judgement
