Myanmar journalists stage rare protest against jail term given to colleague

YANGON, Myanmar – Dozens of journalists have staged a rare demonstration in Myanmar's biggest city to protest against a jail term given to a colleague working on a corruption story.

The journalists carried banners on a Yangon street decrying the sentencing of Ma Khine from the "Daily Eleven" newspaper to three months in jail by a court in eastern Kayah state. She was convicted of trespassing, using abusive language and defamation in connection with the corruption story.

The media in Myanmar have gained freedoms under the reformist government of President Thein Sein, who abolished most censorship and allowed private newspapers. However, some publications have been sued for defamation and Ma Khine is the first journalist under Thein Sein's government to be given a prison sentence.