In December, Myanmar courts sentenced at least eight independent journalists to prison terms ranging from three to 10 years, according to news reports and journalists who spoke to CPJ.

Separately, on January 4, junta authorities released at least six jailed journalists as part of a wider amnesty of over 7,000 prisoners to mark the nation’s Independence Day, according to news reports, a database compiled by the local rights group Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP), and a separate database compiled by the Detained Journalists Information Myanmar private Facebook group, which was shared with CPJ via email.

Myanmar ranked as the world’s third worst jailer of journalists, with 42 behind bars when CPJ conducted its annual prison census on December 1, 2022.

“Myanmar’s cruel carousel of jailing, sentencing, and granting early release to journalists is a form of psychological warfare aimed at breaking the will of independent journalists and media outlets,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Authorities must immediately cease treating members of the press as criminals and should release all reporters held in custody for their work.”

On December 16, a special court in Yangon’s Insein Prison sentenced Wai Lynn, founder of the local outlet Tingangyun Post, and Ma Htet Htet, an editor at the outlet, to five years each in prison under Section 5 of the Explosives Substances Act, which penalizes the unlawful possession of explosive substances, according to news reports and an AAPP statement.

Both reporters had been charged under Article 505(a), a broad provision that criminalizes incitement and the dissemination of false news, and under the Counter Terrorism Law before their convictions under the separate provision.

On either December 16 or 17, freelance journalist Soe Yarzar Tun was sentenced to four years in prison with hard labor under Section 52(a) of the Counter Terrorism Law, according to a report by The Irrawaddy and a statement by the AAPP. Soe Yarzar Tun was arrested in Bago City on March 10, 2022.