Htet Htet Khine: Freelance Journalist Jailed 3 Years by Myanmar Military Junta Court
Human Rights Reporters
2 min read
image: BBC
Htet Htet Khine, the former BBC TV presenter has been sentenced to three years imprisonment with hard labor for publishing articles critical of the military junta by a court in Myanmar on August 15, 2022 in what her charges say are “incitement” and “illegal association,” sources say.
Between 2016 and 2020, the freelance journalist was the face of television programme, BBC Media Action, which actively reported and documented the impact of war in the Myanmar society.
Htet Htet Khine with fellow reporter were arrested and detained on August 15, 2021 in Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison while awaiting trial.
Her case was filed without any evidence, her lawyer expressed as family members and close associates expected nothing but this harsh sentencing.
Reporters Without Borders criticized the verdict saying, “It is unacceptable that a journalist is imprisoned just for doing her job to freely inform her fellow citizens.”
A family member who spoke under conditions of anonymity for security concern expressed fear of the well-being of Htet Htet Khine while in prison as she and other inmates are exposed to COVID-19.
The ruling military junta of Myanmar who forcibly took power in February 2021 broadly jailed many journalists and activists after an unsuccessful attempt to recapture power through democratic held polls which it lost to the party led by 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Veteran journalists told a news source, Radio Free Asia in reaction to the sentencing that reporters must be ready to “subject themselves to serious personal risk to carry out their work under military rule in Myanmar.”
Threats of arrest have become the biggest obstacle to freedom in the country since the coup, as the job has become extremely dangerous. Reporters can simply be arrested and jailed for writing articles that don’t appeal to the military junta.
Htet Htet Khine is noted for warning that “Freedom is never given – it is won.” Her other colleague, Sithu Aung Myint is also awaiting trial on the charges of “incitement” and “sedition,” for publishing content that authorities deem as being critical of the military.
According to an organization that has been keeping records of those killed, jailed or detained by the military, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), states more than 14,000 people have been arrested, with an estimated 2,114 killed by the military so far.
Another media watchdog group, Detention Journalists Information Myanmar, reveals about 142 journalists which includes Htet Htet Khine have till date been arrested since the military take over, of which 95 have been prosecuted under various sections of Myanmar’s penal code.
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