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Govt lawsuits curtail Myanmars media freedom

YangonThe media in Myanmar have gained new freedoms but also face a new threat in the form of lawsuits filed against them by the government. The state-run Kyemon daily reported Wednesday that the Ministry of Mines plans legal action against a reporter and the publisher of private weekly The Voice for a report alleging misappropriation of funds.The Modern weekly journal has already been sued on defamation charges by an engineer from the Construction Ministry.

He sued over a story alleging that truck drivers had bribed local engineers to allow them to use a bridge even though their vehicles exceeded its weight limit.Journalists were jailed, beaten and blacklisted while Myanmar was under decades of army rule, and the new elected but military-backed government continues to censor reporting about politics and other subjects it deems sensitive.

But since last year, when the nations long-entrenched military junta stepped down, censorship has ended on subjects such as health, entertainment, fashion and sports, and reporters are testing the limited freedom emerging.Publishers point out that the press is still not free.

The international media have wrongly reported that Myanmar is enjoying media freedom, but the censorship board continues to delete many stories and local journals are being sued one after another, said Dr. Than Htut Aung, CEO of the prominent Weekly Eleven Media group. He described the report in The Voice not published by him as correct and meeting ethical standards.

Source :AP


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