2016 prison census - Myanmar: Wai Phyo
| Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
| Publication Date | 1 December 2016 |
| Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census - Myanmar: Wai Phyo, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/586cb86e7.html [accessed 5 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
| Wai Phyo, Daily Eleven | |
|---|---|
| Medium: | Internet, Print |
| Charge: | Defamation |
| Imprisoned: | November 11, 2016 |
Police in the commercial capital of Yangon detained Than Htut Aung, chief executive of Eleven Media Group, and Wai Phyo, chief editor of the group's publication Daily Eleven, on November 11, 2016, on a criminal defamation charge filed by the Yangon regional government.
The complaint was filed under the country's Telecommunications Law in response to a November 6, 2016, opinion piece published in the Daily Eleven newspaper that alleged a minister was involved in corruption. A Facebook post made by Than Htut Aung on November 9, 2016, provided further details of the corruption allegations. Neither the opinion piece nor the social media post named the minister allegedly involved in corruption, and the Facebook post was deleted, according to press reports.
Chief Minister of Yangon Phyo Min Thein said in a press conference on November 9, 2016, that the Facebook post was intended to defame his "personal dignity" and that he denied the allegations, according to news reports. The Tarmwe Township court in Yangon declined to expedite Than Htut Aung's petition for bail during the case's first hearing on November 25, 2016, and at a subsequent hearing five days later, according to news reports.
If convicted of the charges, Wai Phyo faced a potential three years in prison. As of late 2016, he was jailed in Yangon's Insein prison.
