Irrawaddy-Oct 31
Myanmar’s military regime officially ordered the closure of The Irrawaddy and revoked its publication license last week, the latest in a series of lawsuits, raids, arrests and other moves targeting the independent news agency since the coup last year. The junta-controlled Ministry of Information announced via state media on Saturday that the news outlet has been banned and its license revoked since Wednesday, accusing it of damaging “state security, rule of law and public tranquility” through its reporting. Since the military takeover in February last year, The Irrawaddy has been at the forefront of reporting on the regime’s bloody crackdowns on peaceful anti-junta protesters and its atrocities against civilians—including daily extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, air strikes on residential areas and torching of civilian properties—while exposing the network of crony businessmen who enjoy shady links with the regime both at home and abroad. The regime’s Saturday statement was the first to publicly acknowledge its efforts to clamp down on The Irrawaddy, though it has taken several unannounced actions against the news agency since the coup. The Irrawaddy’s website was already banned by the regime inside Myanmar. Several weeks before officially shutting the news agency down, the regime arrested its publisher, U Thaung Win, who remains in custody. Founded in Thailand in 1993, The Irrawaddy has been an enemy of successive Myanmar regimes for its reporting on efforts to promote democracy, press freedom and human rights in the country. When Myanmar was opened up, it moved its operations inside the country in 2012 to report on Myanmar’s transition until the coup last year. Myanmar has become the world’s second-biggest jailer of journalists since last year’s military takeover, with more than 140 detained. Over 60 remain behind bars and four have died in custody. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/after-repeated-crackdowns-myanmar-junta-officially-bans-the-irrawaddy.html
