Source : The Irrawaddy
News (1)
US journalist seized at Myanmar airport
A US journalist working for a news magazine in Myanmar has been detained by the regime on Monday at Yangon’s airport shortly before he was due to board a flight to Malaysia.
Frontier Myanmar said in a statement on Monday that its managing editor, Danny Fenster, was detained ahead of a flight to Kuala Lumpur. No reason is known for his detention.
“We do not know why Danny was detained and have not been able to contact him since this morning,” Frontier said, adding that it understood that he has been moved to Insein Prison where many political detainees are being held.
“We are concerned for his wellbeing and call for his immediate release. Our priorities right now are to make sure he is safe and to provide him with whatever assistance he needs,” the magazine added.
Fenster is the third foreign journalist to be detained by the regime. Before him, two freelancers, Robert Bociaga from Poland and Yuki Kitazumi from Japan, were detained. Both of them were later freed and deported.
A court hearing of the two detained journalists from the Mandalay-based agency the Voice of Myanmar (VOM) was conducted online on Monday. Editor-in-chief U Nay Myo Linn and reporter Ko Shine Aung were detained by the regime on April 27 for questioning, leading the online news page to suspend operations.
The pair have been charged under Article 505(a) of the Penal Code, which criminalizes spreading “false” news and carries up to three years’ imprisonment.
Media under attack
Since the military takeover, the regime has targeted journalists with arrests, lawsuits, raids on newsrooms and violence to suppress coverage of its lethal crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters.
Around 85 journalists have been detained by the regime forces. Only some have been released and many are still detained and face charges under Article 505(a).
Arrest warrants have also been issued against 22 journalists.
In a further attack on Myanmar’s media, the military regime has revoked the publication licenses of eight outlets. The Irrawaddy has been sued by the regime under Article 505(a) for its coverage of the crackdowns.
News (2)
Five Myanmar Junta troops killed in Kayah State as Home Minister visits
At least five junta soldiers were killed during heavy fighting between civilian resistance forces and regime troops in Demoso Township, Kayah State on Tuesday morning. The military’s casualties came as the junta’s Home Affairs Minister arrived in Loikaw, the capital of Kayah State, on Tuesday.
Two members of the Karenni People’s Defense Forces (KPDF) were killed during the clashes near the Ngwe Taung Dam in Demoso Township.
The KPDF said the fighting lasted for nearly six hours and stopped at around 10am. The regime forces employed armored personnel carriers and artillery.
“Five junta soldiers died. Two of our members who attempted to destroy the armored vehicles also died and three others disappeared when fighting with junta forces. But civilian resistance forces destroyed two armored vehicles,” said a KPDF member.
Three villagers living near Ngwe Taung dam were also killed, although the cause of their deaths is not known, and many other villagers have fled their homes, he added.
Fierce fighting between the KPDF and regime soldiers broke out on Friday. More than 40 junta troops, including police, have been killed after the KPDF attacked and destroyed police stations in Demoso Township and Shan State’s Pekon Township and Moebyel Town.
A source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Irrawaddy that Lieutenant General Soe Htut, the Home Affairs Minister on the junta’s governing body, the State Administration Council, arrived in Loikaw on Tuesday.
Lt-Gen Soe Htut has responsibility for police stations in Myanmar, but The Irrawaddy was unable to verify independently if he would be visiting the areas where police stations were attacked.
Junta forces fired randomly in Loikaw from 11pm to midnight on Sunday night. At least nine civilians died from the regime gunfire. The sound of artillery firing was also heard in villages outside Loikaw.
On Monday morning, a resident told The Irrawaddy that one civilian was killed by a shot to his head while his arms were tied behind his back in Loikaw’s Noh Koe Village. His body was dumped in a ditch.
Four civilians were also killed on Monday morning when regime forces shelled and shot at a Catholic church in Loikaw’s Kayan Thaya (South) Village. Their bodies were taken away by regime troops.
Civilians have been sheltering in the church since Sunday night, when fighting broke out nearby between civilian resistance forces and regime soldiers.
A civilian who was driving his motorbike was shot and killed on Sunday afternoon as well.
Loikaw residents have been staying in their homes since the city was attacked with heavy artillery on Monday.
Myanmar’s ousted civilian leader State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in person in a Naypyitaw court on Monday for the first time since the military coup. Through her lawyer, she said her party the National League for Democracy (NLD) will be there as long as the people are because the party was founded for the people.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi together with President U Win Myint and Naypyitaw Council chairman Dr. Myo Aung of the NLD government appeared at a court hearing at the Naypyitaw Council. The military’s broadcaster Myawaddy TV reported on their trial on its 8 p.m. evening news.
The NLD leader faces multiple charges under the Natural Disaster Management Law; Export and Import Law; Telecommunications Law; and Article 505(b) of the Penal Code for sedition, as well as the Official Secrets Act.
President U Win Myint faces charges under the Natural Disaster Management Law and sedition law, and Dr. Myo Aung under the sedition law.
After the court hearing, the military regime detained lawyer U Thein Hlaing Tun, who is acting for Dr. Myo Aung.
In Kayah State (also known as Karenni State), four locals who fled fighting between civilian resistance fighters and junta forces and were taking shelter at a Catholic church in Kayan Thar Yar (South) Village in the state capital Loikaw died when the church was shelled by junta forces.
The Progressive Karenni People’s Force—a network of Karenni civil society organizations in Kayah State—said junta troops shot a detained civilian in the head in Loikaw.
In Demoso Township, buildings in the township’s Rural Development Department office were set on fire. The Kayah People’s Defense Force (KPDF) said it torched the houses of military collaborators and government offices operating under the military regime along the road from Dawh Ngan Kha Village to Ngwe Taung Village in Demoso.
The KPDF said it attacked a tank and troops of junta reinforcements heading to Ngwe Taung from Demoso using remotely detonated mines.
A police captain with Sagaing Region’s No. 16 security police force was shot dead as a constable fired around 20 shots at him following an altercation.
In Kani Township, junta raids forced thousands of civilians to flee into the forest. People from Monywa continued their daily protests against the military regime. Educators, students and residents in Holamin also staged a protest against the education system under military rule.
People took to the streets against the military regime in Taze and Sar Taung too. And Shwebo residents called for a boycott of the education system under military rule.
In Mandalay’s Mogok, junta troops arrested a woman who is a member of a defense team of local anti-regime protesters.
In Pyigyitagon Township, a basic education primary school was set on fire. Locals said they saw junta troops enter the school just before the fire broke out.
People marched in protest at the military regime in Nyaung-U, Myingyan. Buddhist monks in Mandalay also staged a protest against the military regime.
Anti-regime protesters including students vowed to fight the military regime until the end. A night protest was also held in Tammawady calling for boycotting education under military rule.
In Kachin State, a 13-year-old boy working on a chicken husbandry farm in Momauk Township was killed in shelling by junta forces.
The ward administration office of Myay Myint ward in the state capital Myitkyina was set on fire, and a stun grenade exploded outside the house of the ward administrator. Students in Myitkyina called for boycotting education under military rule.
A bridge on the Mandalay-Myitkyina Highway in Hopin Township was blown up. Explosions were reported at electricity and education offices in Bhamo.
Daily street protests continued in the jade mining hub Hpakant. A night protest was held in Lone Khin village, Hpakant.
In Magwe Region, an explosion took place at a basic education school in Natmauk. The ceiling of the school was damaged, but no injuries were reported. There was also an explosion at a basic education school in Magwe, with no injuries.
In Myaing Township, people took to the streets calling for a boycott of education under military rule.
In Tanintharyi Region, street protests continued in the capital Dawei and Launglon.
In Mon State, people in Paung Township showed their support for the National Unity Government, a government formed to rival the military regime.
In Yangon, a tea shop protest was held along with street protests elsewhere in the town. Three explosions occurred near No. 4 Basic Education High School in Ahlon while a deputy director of the Education Ministry was holding a meeting on school enrollment.
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