Myanmar: RSF welcomes the release of journalists Ta Lin Maung and Naung Yoe
Two Myanmar journalists, held for a month by an armed group opposing the military regime, have recently been freed, although no explanation has been provided regarding the reasons for their abduction. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the armed group leaders to take measures to protect journalists’ rights.
Ta Lin Maung, a journalist for the online news site Red News Agency, and Naung Yoe, an independent reporter, were released on 27 October 2024. They had been abducted almost a month before, and held by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), an armed organisation fighting against the military regime and de facto controlling northern Myanmar.
Despite requests from RSF, the KIA spokesperson has not given the reasons for the abduction of the journalists. Local media reported that Ta Lin Maung may have been kidnapped over critical posts on social media about the KIA. Naung Yoe, was reportedly captured the following day while investigating the disappearance of his colleague.
“By holding journalists incommunicado for a month, the Kachin Independence Army is using the same arbitrary and repressive tactics as the Myanmar military regime that it claims to fight with. We urge the KIA leaders to account for these abductions and take measures to protect journalists’ rights.
Ta Lin Maung and Naung Yoe are the first Myanmar journalists to be detained by an insurgent group since the start of the resistance war against the military junta following the February 2021 coup. In March 2022, Naung Yoe had already been sentenced by the junta to one year and seven months in prison for his coverage of protests against the military coup.
Since February 2021, Myanmar’s military regime has launched a merciless crackdown on the media, with at least seven journalists and press freedom defenders executed and over 150 journalists imprisoned; at least 64 remain incarcerated in junta-controlled prisons.
RSF's project for Myanmar journalists
In response to this ongoing repression, RSF has provided emergency support to around a hundred Myanmar journalists and recently launched from Thailand the Myanmar Press Freedom Project, to aid exiled media professionals and those still working within the country.
Myanmar, ranked 171st out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index, is one of the world’s largest jailers of journalists, with 64 currently detained across the country, second only to China.
