A signature campaign was launched on June 30 for the immediate release of all journalists who were arrested and charged under section 66(d) of Telecommunications Law.
This signature campaign was organized and led by the Myanmar Journalists Protection Committee and was attended by news media and held in front of Yangon Town Hall.
Myanmar Journalists Protection Committee member Thar Lun Zaung Htet said that the journalists in Myanmar were facing oppression and they were frequently detained by unfair laws so that they launched this campaign to raise awareness about this media repression among the people and the international community.
“The laws are arbitrarily used and some laws they disliked are ignored. So they apply the laws they like and they ignore the laws they dislike. This unfair practice must not be done. The current situation of our media world has been worsened considerably. So we will continue our movement in accordance with the law,” journalist Thar Lun Zaung Htet said.
All media are homogeneous and standing together, he added.
“I don’t want to explain the views of actions were taken only to ‘The Voice’ or ‘The Eleven’. I’d like to let know (the government and military) all media are in homogeneous and all are standing together at one place. We won’t say ‘The Voice’ or ‘The Eleven’ distinctively. All are our media,” journalist Thar Lun Zaung Htet said.
Executive Director Aung Myo Min of ‘Equality Myanmar’ which is advocating for human rights issues said that arresting and detaining three reporters by Tatmadaw for alleged having contact with unlawful associations was doing more than provided in the law.
Myanmar Journalists Protection Committee launched this signature campaign and they will forward the signatures collected to another partner organization and they would reportedly continue other movements in the future.