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HEALTH-VIRUS-MYANMAR
Myanmar editor jailed for 2 years over coronavirus error
YANGON, May 22, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – A Myanmar news editor has been
jailed for two years after his agency reported a coronavirus death
that turned out to be false, his lawyer said Friday.
The country has only 199 confirmed cases of coronavirus and seen
six deaths, although the low numbers tested mean experts fear the true
figures are far higher.
Chief editor Zaw Ye Htet was arrested April 13, the same day his
online news agency Dae Pyaw published an erroneous article alleging
there had been a death due to the COVID-19 in eastern Karen state.
On May 20 he faced trial, an unusually swift process in a country
where suspects often languish for months behind bars before being
convicted.
“He was sentenced under section 505(b) to two years in jail,” by
the court in Karen state, his lawyer Myint Thuzar Maw said Friday.
The notorious Section 505(b) is a vaguely-worded law, often thrown
at journalists and activists for making any statement that cause fear
or alarm.
“We’ll appeal this unfair decision,” Zaw Ye Htet’s wife Phyu Phyu
Win told AFP by phone.
Karen state borders Thailand and saw more than 16,000 returning
Myanmar migrant workers early April after the pandemic caused huge job
losses in Thailand and borders started to close.
The state has so far only reported two cases of coronavirus and no deaths.
The government has warned people will be prosecuted for spreading
misinformation about the pandemic, but this is the first known case
involving a journalist.
It is also drafting new legislation on the control of communicable
diseases that would make it even easier to criminalise reporters
deemed to be causing public panic.
Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson branded the
move a “recipe for disaster” and warned against denying people the
information they need.
Under international law, restrictions to freedom of speech must be
carefully spelt out, he added.
BSS/AFP/MRU/1745hrs