Myanmar authorities should immediately release journalists Aung San Oo and Myo Myint Oo, who were sentenced to 20 years and life in prison respectively, and stop using terrorism charges to harass the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

A military court inside Myeik Prison sentenced the Dawei Watch journalists Aung San Oo on February 16 and Myo Myint Oo on May 15, the chief editor of the local independent outlet told CPJ, requesting anonymity due to fear of reprisals. The reporters were arrested in the coastal town of Myeik in December, three days after returning home from hiding.

“Dawei Watch journalists Aung San Oo and Myo Myint Oo’s lengthy sentences on terrorism-related charges are senselessly harsh and must be reversed,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “These types of extreme court rulings aim to instill fear among all reporters and will have a chilling effect across Myanmar’s independent media.”

The sentences, to be served at Myeik Prison, were not made public until recently, the editor said.

Authorities beat Aung San Oo and Myo Myint Oo during interrogations at a detention center and denied them legal counsel, according to a Dawei Watch statement.

Four other Dawei Watch staff have been arrested since the military seized power in 2021, including reporter Aung Lwin who was sentenced in 2022 to five years in prison on terrorism charges.

Myanmar’s Ministry of Information did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment. Myanmar was the world’s second-worst jailer of journalists, with 43 behind bars in CPJ’s 2023 prison census.