CPJ expresses concern over Myanmar curbs on media

New York, Aug 30 (UNI) A New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned about Myanmar government's restrictions on news coverage of recent nationwide protests over a recent official decision to end fuel price subsidies.

According to the Burma Media Association of Myanmar, plainclothes police and pro-government groups threatened and physically assaulted a number of local journalists who had attempted to cover the protests and the government's retaliatory crackdown.

Police arrested more than 150 protesters, including prominent members of the dissident 88 Student Generation group.

The military had imposed a ban on photographing the protests and the security forces have been deployed to enforce it.

A Reuters journalist's cameras were seized by the police on August 23 as he attempted to take pictures of military detaining a group of protesters, according to news reports.

CPJ executive director, Joel Simon said yesterday that reporters had a right to cover the protests in Myanmar without being terrorised by plainclothes police and pro-government groups. We called upon the Yangon government to ensure that all journalists could work without harassment and censorship.

The state censor boards imposed a 10-day blackout on all news coverage of the protests, except from the occasional propaganda piece in the pro-government ''New Light of Myanmar'' newspaper.

All newspapers and magazines are scrutinised by the government before publication, while all broadcast media outlets are tightly controlled and owned by the military.

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance, a regional press freedom advocacy group, reported recent rolling blackouts for both cellphones and the internet. Myanmar already have some of the world's most comprehensive restrictions on the internet.

UNI