Released journalist maintains her innocence

by Myo Thein
Monday, 21 September 2009 11:26

Rangoon (Mizzima) - Eint Khaing Oo, a reporter released from incarceration on Friday, said she did not do anything wrong in performing her professional responsibilities.

While covering the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008 for Eco Vision Journal, Eint Khaing Oo was approached by eleven survivors requesting her assistance in taking them to the UNDP office in Rangoon. She was subsequently charged for defaming the government and imprisoned for two years.

“I was doing my reporting job. I just tried to get news,” Eint Kaing Oo told Mizzima. “The affected people were suffering. I did it [assisting the survivors] for the sake of them only. No personal interest. I don't think I was wrong.”

Eint Khaing Oo, 28, had served one year and four months of her sentence prior to being released early as part of the junta’s latest amnesty scheme.

“I have no special feelings. I was nearly due to be released. I want other political prisoners to be released,” she emphasized.

If her old employer accepts her back, she says she will continue her job as a reporter.

Following her arrest she was awarded with the Alicia Paterson Foundation and Burma Media Association’s Kenji Nagai Award, in honor of a Japanese reporter who was shot at point blank range by a Burmese government soldier in September 2007.