BBC Myanmar reporter jailed for assaulting police officer

A Myanmarese reporter with BBC Myanmar has been jailed for three months after he was found guilty of assaulting a police officer, officials said on Tuesday.

Ko Nay Myo Lin was found guilty on Monday in the Chan Mya Tharsi township court in Mandalay of actions that took place during an altercation between protesting students and police in Mandalay on March 27, 2015, EFE news reported.

The Mandalay region police force claimed that the reporter punched an officer in the face, even though almost two dozen witnesses testified at the 15-month trial in Lin's defence, and said police disrupted the rally by knocking motorbikes onto the ground.

Though the reporter pleaded not guilty, he is not planning to contest the verdict in a higher court.

"Most people saw that the police pushed over the students' motorcycles at the protest. But the court ignored the evidence and sentenced me to three months' imprisonment with labour. It is not fair," the Myanmar Times quoted Lin as saying.

"There is no protection for the media. What I did was only report on people who were being treated unjustly."

The Yangon-based Foreign Correspondents Club of Myanmar said in a statementon Tuesday that the court's verdict reflects badly on the new civilian government which is trying to lead the country towards democracy.

--IANS

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