A photojournalist in Myanmar died a week after his arrest in military prison

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

After being seized last week while documenting protests in Myanmar, a freelance photojournalist died in military captivity.

Soe Naing is the first journalist to die in jail since the army seized power in February, deposing Aung San Suu Kyi's democratic administration.
Since then, over 100 journalists have been imprisoned, with around half of them being released.

Soe Naing and a coworker were arrested in downtown Yangon on Friday while shooting photos during a "silent strike" planned by opponents of military rule.
The streets were nearly empty as people responded to the call to stay at home and for businesses to close for six hours. It was the largest nationwide protest in several months.

 

Soe Naing isn't the first inmate to pass away while being held by the government.
There is no official count, but political activists and members of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy have been reported deceased while in jail.
According to human rights groups, the bodies in numerous cases where they could be viewed bore scars that suggested the individuals had been tortured.

Journalists have been arrested in large numbers as the military-installed government attempts to stifle the free flow of information.
In addition to detaining journalists, numerous news organisations have been compelled to close or go underground, putting their employees at risk of arrest.

 

Soe Naing and a colleague had been documenting Myanmar's turmoil for months, with their images of anti-military protests and security forces' savage crackdowns being picked up by international news outlets.

Soe Naing was taken to a military interrogation centre in Yangon's eastern Botahtaung Township after his arrest, according to sources familiar with the situation.
His family learned of his death at the 1,000-bed Defense Services general hospital in Yangon's Mingaladon Township on Tuesday morning, according to coworkers and a family member who spoke on the condition of anonymity since disclosing such information may lead to their detention.

 

Interrogation centres across Myanmar have been increasingly using torture against detainees since the army took charge.

"Appalled to read that freelance photoreporter Soe Naing – abducted by the military while documenting a quiet demonstration in Yangon on Friday – died in detention this morning, after a harsh interrogation," the Paris-based organisation Reporters Without Borders tweeted.