Myanmar to
charge Singaporean, Malaysian journalists on assignment for Turkish
state TV: Officials
NAYPYITAW/YANGON: Myanmar police said on Saturday (Oct 28) they
were preparing to charge journalists working for Turkey's state
broadcaster TRT, their local interpreter and driver for bringing a
drone into the country without permission.
The police were also expecting to obtain court permission to remand
the four for up to 15 days as they prepare to charge them under
Section 8 of the Export and Import Law. Violators of it can be
jailed for up to three years.
The journalists - Lau Hon Meng from Singapore and Mok Choy Lin from
Malaysia - plus their interpreter Aung Naing Soe and driver Hla Tin
have been detained since Friday for flying a drone near the
parliament in Myanmar's capital Naypyitaw.
The development comes amid tension between Turkey and Myanmar over
the Rohingya crisis. In early September, Turkish President Tayyip
Erdogan said the death of the Rohingya constituted a "genocide"
aimed at Muslim communities in the region, a charge Myanmar
denies.
More than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled the majority-Buddhist
Myanmar for neighbouring Bangladesh since security forces responded
to Rohingya militants' attacks on Aug 25 by launching a
crackdown.
Turkish broadcaster TRT said on its website that the network "is in
discussions with Myanmar authorities to secure their release. Both
journalists had valid visas".
ARRAIGNMENT PLANNED
Myanmar police spokesman Police Colonel Myo Thu Soe told Reuters
the journalists "illegally imported the drone" and all four will be
charged under the Export and Import Law.
The law does not specifically refer to drones, but it says that "no
person shall export or import restricted, prohibited and banned
goods," and that, "without obtaining license, no person shall
export or import the specified goods which is to obtain
permission."
"We are going to the court now to obtain the arraignment, we will
get it today," said Police Lieutenant Tun Tun Win. He said that the
remand will be for up to 15 days but police expect to file charges
within 10 days.
Several journalists in Myanmar have been arrested this year,
leading rights groups to warn that the gains made in press freedom
since the end of military rule risk being reversed under the
administration of national leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The two foreign journalists are detained at police station no. 1 in
Naypyitaw, while the two Myanmar nationals have been transferred to
a prison in the nearby town of Pyinmana.
On Friday night, about 25 police staged an evening raid on the
Yangon house of the Myanmar interpreter, well-known domestic
reporter Aung Naing Soe, seizing his computer memory sticks and
searching documents.
Myanmar state broadcaster MRTV said the ministry of foreign affairs
had informed the Singaporean and Malaysian embassies about the
matter.
Source: CNA/nc