The professional membership of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand is deeply concerned over the reported death of Burmese photographer Soe Naing while in military custody.
Friends of Soe Naing say he died after being arrested on Friday 10 December, while filming military trucks in Latha Township, central Yangon, during the ‘Silent Strike’ called by the parallel National Unity Government, which was widely observed in Myanmar.
Soe Naing, who was around 40, leaves a wife and young son. The circumstances of his death are not yet clear, but his friends say he was detained in Than Lyet Soon Navy Base and died from mistreatment there.
If confirmed, this will be the first death of a journalist while covering the conflict in Myanmar since the February coup. Human rights groups believe more than 100 people may have died in custody under military rule, a shockingly high number. Reporters Without Borders says that around 100 journalists have been arrested, of whom more than fifty remain in detention.
The FCCT asks the military authorities to investigate the circumstances of Soe Naing’s death, and to halt its repressive treatment of journalists who are trying to do their jobs in difficult and dangerous conditions.
15 December 2021
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