Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called on the Myanmar authorities to do everything possible to arrest and prosecute all those who had anything to do with last week’s bomb explosion at the home of Min Min, the chief editor of the Root Investigative Agency (RIA), in Rakhine State. 
It was the first time that a media professional has been the target of an act of violence of this kind in Myanmar, according to RSF.
“We are very concerned so see media freedom’s enemies crossing this threshold,” said Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk.
“We take note of the initial measures adopted by the security forces and we urge them to redouble efforts to identify and catch this attack’s perpetrators and instigators. A strong message must be sent to those who target news providers, in order to prevent a climate of impunity and an ensuing climate of violence and self-censorship.”
Based in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, RIA has often been the target of threats, especially on social networks, ever since its creation in August 2015. RIA’s journalists have been warned on Facebook that “your time is near.”
A message posted after the explosion said: “This was only a warning and more attacks are coming.” In Viber and Facebook discussion groups, a price of “20 lakhs” (27,000 Euros) has been put on the heads of RIA’s two leading journalists.
The bomb went off in the garden of Min Min’s home at around 11:20 p.m. on 10 March. No one was hurt, but only by chance. The police protected the house until the next morning.
The local authorities said the Arakan Army, an armed separatist group, may have been behind the bombing even if it has not claimed responsibility. RIA said it thought its investigative reporting prompted the attack.
Ever since the clashes between the local Buddhists and Muslims groups in Rakhine State in June 2012, many Myanmar and foreign journalists have been subjected to intimidation and even prevented from working freely in the state
After discussing the problems resulting from the lack of information about the violence, the European Parliament adopted a resolution in June 2013 calling for journalists to be given unrestricted access to sensitive regions of Myanmar such as Rakhine State, where people of Rohingya origin are in the majority.
Myanmar is ranked 144th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2015 World Press Freedom Index.