AFP – A spokesman for Myanmar’s military government said: A court has sentenced a Japanese film director to 10 years in prison after being detained for more than two months while filming an anti-coup protest.
The army has suppressed freedom of the press since last year’s coup. by arresting journalists and photographers as well as revoking broadcasting licenses while the country is in chaos.
Toru Kubota, 26, was detained near an anti-junta protest in Yangon. In July with 2 Burmese people
He was sentenced to seven years in prison for breaking a law that requires the dissemination of information that endangers state security. and peace and tranquility is a crime. A spokesman for the military government said in a statement.
He also received a three-year prison sentence for supporting dissidents against the army. The payments are widely used in oppression.
A diplomat at the Japanese embassy in Myanmar said Kubota also faces charges of violating immigration law whose next trial is expected on October 12.
Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it has provided consular assistance. and will continue to appeal to the Burmese authorities asking for Kubota’s early release.
The Japanese film director arrived in Myanmar in July. and he is filming a documentary about the Burmese people According to Yoshitaka Nitta, Kubota’s friend.
According to information published on the FilmFreeway website, Kuboka has made documentaries about Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority, refugees and ethnic issues in Myanmar.
Japan is Burma’s main donor and has long-standing ties to the country’s military.
after the coup Tokyo announced that it would suspend all new aid. But it did not impose sanctions on military and police commanders.
“Kubota’s imprisonment is a slap in the face to Tokyo,” said Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch.
“It’s time for Japan to stop playing games. and resort to supporting real international sanctions that will squeeze the junta’s source of revenue,” said Robertson.
In September, Japan’s defense ministry said it would end a training program for members of Myanmar’s military from next year following the execution of four political prisoners by the military government.
The executions of the four in July military government amid international calls for restraint This was Burma’s first use of the death penalty for decades. which sparked international discontent.
Kubota is the fifth foreign journalist to be detained in Burma, following US citizens Nathan Maung and Danny Fenster, Polish national Robert Bosieka and Japanese Yuki Kitasumi.
Fenster, who was taken into custody in May. 2021 when trying to leave the country He is facing a closed court case in Insein Prison on charges of illegal association. encouragement to oppose the military and break visa laws
He was sentenced to 11 years in prison before being pardoned and deported.
As of March 2022, 48 journalists are still detained across the country. According to the ASEAN Reporting Observatory Group
The military’s crackdown on dissidents has since toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s government. More than 2,300 civilians were killed.
The junta blames anti-coup fighters for the deaths of nearly 3,900 civilians.
