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

11 Arakanese youths should be released, lawyer says

-
Tuesday, 10 August 2010 19:36 Myint Maung

New Delhi (Mizzima) – Eleven Arakanese youths held in Insein prison for about a year should be acquitted of several charges, including bearing arms, dealing in drugs and contacting an exiled organisation, one of the lawyers said ahead of the court’s verdict in their trial, citing the lack of evidence or witnesses in the prosecution’s case.

The advocate’s comments followed the prosecutor’s submission of his written final argument in Rangoon West District special tribunal sitting in Insein prison last Wednesday. Judge Myint San set tomorrow to hand down the verdict.

“There are no eyewitnesses or incriminating evidence against my clients, meaning that all 11 of these defendants should be immediately acquitted,” lawyer Kyaw Hoe said. “They were charged … with contacting the exile-based All Arakan Students’ and Youths’ Congress, recruiting new members for this organisation, selling narcotic drugs for this organisation, carrying arms and ammunition and committing bomb attacks in Burma.”

Military Affairs Security, the junta’s intelligence service, arrested the group at different locations in Arakan State in September last year, alleging they had been in contact with the AASYC, had set off bomb blasts and had crossed the border illegally.

Special Branch Police Major Than Soe was public prosecutor in the total of five cases. Six of the accused including Tun Lin Kyaw, Aung San Thein and Khai Kyaw Moe were charged with illegal border-crossing under section 13(1) of the Immigration Act and under section 7 of the Associations Law. Naing Soe, aka Mae Lone, was charged with setting off an explosive device, as was Ye Htet Soe, who was also charged under section 6(1) of the Burma Telegraph Act.

The judge reportedly examined mainly the alleged bombings and questioned only the police case officer, Kyaw Yin.

The AASYC, a pro-democracy ethnic organisation based in Thailand, had denied any contact with the accused.

Family members of the 11 said they had no contact with their loved ones after military intelligence detained them until they were brought before the court for a hearing on December 20 last year.

The court has continually refused to let family members’ enter the public gallery during proceedings. Lawyers for the defendants asked that two relatives of each of the accused be allowed in court on March 29 but it rejected the plea and has continued to deny access throughout the trial.

Lawyers for the accused, Aye Thein, Maung Maung Latt, Thida Ma Ma and Kyaw Hoe, said they would lodge an appeal against the judgement if the defendants were given prison terms.

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