Myanmar court sentences BBC reporter to jail

Baku. 7 June. REPORT.AZ/ Ko Nay Myo Lin, a Myanmar reporter for the BBC, was sentenced to three months in prison with hard labour at a court in Chanmyathasi Township, Mandalay.

Report informs citing the Russian media, yesterday after he was found guilty of injuring a policeman while covering a student protest last year.

The reporter was charged under Section 322 for harming Police Lance Corporal Ba Maw during the student protest against the National Education Law on 27 March last year.
The reporter contends he has been convicted unfairly.

“The sentence is unfair. It was an accident. Medical documents said it was a minor injury,” said the reporter, adding that there is no organisation to stand up for journalists in trouble.

According to the judge on the case, violations of Section 322 can carry a maximum three-year prison sentence.

U Thein Than Oo, the defendant’s lawyer, said the sentence should not be handed down as the reporter did not intentionally harm that policeman.