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

Abbot sentenced to seven years in prison

-
Thursday, 18 February 2010 20:54 Myint Maung

New Delhi (Mizzima) - The Burmese military junta’s judiciary continued to hand down harsh verdicts, with an abbot, who had assisted Cyclone Nargis victims, being sentenced to seven years in prison yesterday by a special court in session inside the Insein prison precincts.

The Rangoon western district court sentenced Abbot U Gaw Thita from the Rangoon Nga Htat Gyi monastery under the Immigration Act, Foreign Exchange Regulation Act and Unlawful Associations Act.

“Deputy District Judge (3) Tin Htut and law officer (public prosecutor) Daw Khin Po pronounced the judgment from the western district court bench,” an opposition source said.

The monk was arrested from Rangoon Mingaladon airport on August 28 last year after returning from Taiwan. Seven other monks were also arrested along with him on the same day from the airport but they were released after being questioned for a day. Abbot U Gaw Thita was the only one to be prosecuted.

Rangoon based legal advisor Aung Thein told Mizzima that trying a person entering the country with a valid passport and visa under the Immigration Act and Unlawful Associations Act is not in keeping with the law.

“As for charging him under the Foreign Exchange Act, all eight monks had some foreign currency when they entered Burma. One of them testified in court and said he exchanged his foreign currency the next day after being released from a day’s detention for they could not exchange it at the airport as they were arrested. So the trial under the Foreign Exchange Act is contrary to the law as well,” he added.

Three and-a-half months after the monk was arrested, he was produced in court on December 15. The period of judicial custody is counted from that date till the date of the court verdict.

“But the period between the arrest date and the begining of the trial is not taken as judicial custody. So his three months in judicial custody was not taken into account, which is also contrary to the law,” Aung Thein said.

Meanwhile, Burmese-American citizen Aye Min Khaing is being held in Insein prison in solitary confinement for protesting against lack of treatment of prisoners, who had contracted the AIDS virus. But his case is not yet known, a source close to prison officials said.

Comments

Post a Comment

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