Mizzima awarded global JTI certificate for reliable news on Myanmar

-
Image
Mizzima Mizzima, one of Myanmar ’s most prominent news outlets and a press freedom advocate, obtained the Journalism Trust Initiative ( JTI ) certification from global audit firm Bureau Veritas , JTI says in a press statement 5 January.  Operating in clandestine mode within Myanmar and supported by an exiled team, Mizzima strives to fulfil its role as reliable source of news and information for the Myanmar public. “Your Journalism Trust Initiative certification affirms what audiences already know: that principled, transparent journalism matters. Congratulations on this achievement and on your continued contribution to informing citizens about Myanmar,” says Benjamin Sabbah , director of Journalism Trust Initiative “Myanmar’s ongoing conflict has created an intensely contested media landscape, where mis- and disinformation are increasingly deployed to reinforce state propaganda and the prevailing “official” narrative. Although Mizzima is already regarded as one of the most trusted ...
Post a Comment

Junta’s amnesty meaningless sans political prisoners: AI

-
by Mungpi
Friday, 18 September 2009 14:43

New Delhi (Mizzima) - Unless the over 2,200 political prisoners languishing in prisons across the country are included among the prisoners being freed, the amnesty announced by the military rulers on Thursday would be meaningless, Amnesty International said.

Benjamin Zawacki, Burma researcher of the AI on Friday told Mizzima, “Unless the more than the 2,200 political prisoners are released, any gesture like this would be meaningless as far as Human Rights is concerned.”

Amnesty International’s stand came following the Burmese military junta’s announcement on Thursday evening about the release of 7,114 prisoners across the country in an amnesty based on ‘humanitarian grounds’ and to enable them to serve national interest.

Zawacki said, the junta in the past 18 months has twice made similar gestures where a tiny portion of prisoners of conscience were included.

“Unless the 2,200 political prisoners are included among the more than 7,000 prisoners released, it certainly does not meet the expectation of the international community articulated by Ban Ki-moon,” Zawacki said.

The United Nations Chief, Ban Ki-moon, during his visit to Burma in July urged the government to release all political prisoners including detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as a step to begin the process of national reconciliation in the country.

Following Ban’s visit, Burma’s UN Ambassador Than Swe told the Security Council that his government is preparing to release prisoners to allow them to participate in the forthcoming 2010 elections.

Burma has been persistent in its denial of having political prisoners saying all prisoners are charged with violating the existing law.

On Friday afternoon, the initial release of about 100 prisoners from Mandalay prison does not include any political prisoners.

Meanwhile, in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison, authorities are holding a press briefing on Friday afternoon and opposition sources said they expect a few political prisoners including some prominent student activists to be among those freed.

Popular posts from this blog

World's longest internet shutdown ends in parts of Myanmar

-
Image
Rakhine people travel by motorcycle in Sittwe, Rakhine State, Western Myanmar, 02 February 2021. Photo: Nyunt Win/EPA By AFP The world's longest internet shutdown -- affecting more than a million people for 19 months in one of Myanmar's ethnic conflict zones -- has come to an end, according to a mobile operator based in the region. The internet in parts of Myanmar's troubled northern states of Rakhine and Chin was suspended in June 2019 following "emergency" orders issued by the telecoms department under Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government. Following Monday's military coup, mobile operator Telenor Group confirmed it had reinstated full services in eight townships in Rakhine and Chin states on Wednesday. "Telenor Group and Telenor Myanmar have been advocating for the restoration of services and emphasised that freedom of expression through access to telecoms services should be maintained for humanitarian purposes," the company said in a stateme...
Read more

First ministerial meeting held

-
Image
Mizzima Myanmar held the first meeting among newly appointed ministers after a recent major cabinet reshuffle by the military in capital city of Nay Pyi Taw on Tuesday morning, according to a release from the Military True News Information Team Xinhua reported. The Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, acting President U Myint Swe and nine newly appointed union ministers were present at the meeting held at the Presidential Palace, the release said. Min Aung Hlaing unveiled plans to include reopening religious buildings and pagodas, resuming domestic travel and hotel businesses as well as industries in line with COVID-19 rules and regulations, and revitalizing the country's economy.
Read more

Indonesia detains British woman on terror suspect list

-
Image
File photo of Indonesian police personnel standing guard. (Photo: AFP) AFP Indonesia has detained a British woman named on a list of global terror suspects and plans to deport her for visa violations, authorities told AFP Tuesday. Tazneen Miriam Sailar -- a Manchester-born convert to Islam married to an Indonesian jihadist who was killed in Syria -- is not charged with terror offences. But she and her late husband are on an Indonesian police list of suspected extremists that includes several foreigners notorious in the West. Sailar, 47, and her 10-year-old Indonesia-born son, were being held in Jakarta after being picked up last year without documents allowing her to remain in the Southeast Asian nation, her lawyer Farid Ghozali said. "She was put (in detention) while awaiting her return, which will be facilitated by the British embassy," Indonesian immigration directorate spokesman Ahmad Nursaleh told AFP. The embassy declined to comment, and it was unclear when...
Read more