The ruling military junta in Burma has indicted
a Japanese journalist imprisoned in the country
for disseminating "
false information
", the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported.
Read also: Burma: the junta blocks the internet and restricts access to information
Yuki Kitazumi, a freelance journalist arrested in mid-April, was indicted on Monday, World Press Freedom Day.
He is one of about fifty journalists currently detained in Burma as part of the crackdown carried out since the February 1 coup.
The situation has been chaotic in Burma since the putsch, which toppled the civilian government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. A total of 766 civilians have been killed in the crackdown on coup opponents by security forces over the past three months and some 3,500 are in detention, according to a local organization, the Association for Assistance to the political prisoners (AAPP).
According to the AAPP, 50 journalists are currently in detention, 25 of whom have been formally prosecuted, and 29 others are subject to arrest warrants. The Kyodo agency quoted an official at the Japanese embassy, wishing not to be identified, that Yuki Kitazumi does not suffer from any health problems after several weeks of detention in Insein prison in Yangon, known for shelter political prisoners. He has been behind bars since April 18. That day was the second time Yuki Kitazumi had been arrested since the coup. In February, he was beaten and briefly arrested during a riot police intervention against demonstrators.
Japan, which has been one of the main countries to come to the aid of Burma for years, is pushing for its release. "
Naturally, we will continue to do everything possible for the speedy release of the detained Japanese national
," Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told Japanese reporters on a trip to Britain, according to NHK television. Despite the risks involved, the protests continue. Very early Tuesday, gatherings were formed in Mandalay, the country's second city, as well as in Kachin State (North).
