Release of two journalists held for citizen activism

Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association hail the release of Thant Zin Soe, the editor of Foreign Affairs Journal, and Paing Soe Oo, a blogger. They were freed with two of their friends on 1 December, after being held for a month and a half. A member for a citizens’ network called Lin Let Kye, Paing Soe Oo was arrested at his home in Dagon Seikkan, near Rangoon, on 27 October. The police who arrested him confiscated notes that contained the names of other members of the group. Thant Zin Soe and another journalist, Nyi Nyi Htun, were among those arrested on suspicion of belonging to the network. While detained, they were reportedly interrogated about their links with foreign “opposition groups” and the sources of the “financial support” they had allegedly received. ---------------- 10.30.09 Journalists arrested
At least three journalists and bloggers arrested in crackdown on volunteer group Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association condemn the arrests of at least three Burmese journalists and bloggers in a crackdown on Lin Let Kye, a citizen network of volunteers that has been helping the victims of Cyclone Nargis, which devastated the south of the country last year. “Last month, the authorities released several journalists who had been arrested for covering the post-Nargis situation, but now the security forces are arresting more journalists for the same reason,” the two organisations said. “We call for them to be released without delay.” Paing Soe Oo, a blogger and active member for the Lin Let Kye group, was arrested at his home in Dagon Seikkan, near Rangoon. The police who arrested him confiscated some of his notes which contained the names of other Lin Let Kye members. Journalists Thant Zin Soe and Nyi Nyi Htun were also arrested for their membership in the group. The authorities have repeatedly obstructed coverage of Cyclone Nargis’s effects by both Burmese and foreign journalists. Burma was ranked 171st out of 175 countries in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.