Burma Cracks Down on Media, Democracy Activists

Remember that devastating cyclone that hit Burma/Myanmar on May 2, and the ensuing misery because the junta refused to let international aid come into the country? Burmese journalist Ein Khaing Oo (pictured) just received a two-year prison sentence on charges of "disturbing tranquility" for covering that humanitarian crisis. More:

"Ein Khaing Oo, a reporter for the weekly Myanmar-language magazine Eco Vision, was arrested on June 10 while covering a demonstration by victims of the cyclone.

About 20 protesters were complaining about what they said was a lack of government assistance after the cyclone in May, which left about 150,000 people dead and millions homeless.

...Reporters Without Borders said another journalist, Zaw Thet Htwe, and a blogger, Zarganar, were also being held for helping victims of (Cyclone) Nargis."

Sad, but hardly surprising in light of the 20-plus-year sentence imposed on 28-year-old blogger and Internet cafe owner Nay Phone Latt last week. And not that anyone has ever thought that the junta was friendly to media: just ask the family of Kenji Nagai. Human Rights Watch, though, pegs the current wave of prosecutions to the junta's desire to intimidate opposition in the run-up to multi-party elections in 2010.

HRW says that on Tuesday, 14 activists who participated in the peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations of Fall 2007 were sentenced to 65-year prison terms. "More than 70 political activists, monks, nuns, journalists, and labor activists who participated in the August and September 2007 demonstrations are being tried or have been summarily convicted in secret trials in prisons and closed court hearings," the human-rights group reports.