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Journalist arrested for mocking Myanmar leaders in Facebook post freed from prison

Associated Press
Published | Updated

YANGON, Myanmar – A photojournalist who was arrested for mocking Myanmar's leaders on Facebook has been freed.

Aung Nay Myo expressed relief after walking out of Monywa prison Monday, saying the charges against him were dropped and police returned his seized computer and phones.

Police arrested the freelancer last week, saying he would be charged with the 1950 Emergency Provision Act which carries a maximum seven years in prison. The case involved a post on Facebook satirizing President Thein Sein, who has led the country's nominally civilian government for four years.

At least nine journalists and several publishers and media owners are serving prison sentences from two to seven years and nearly a dozen others are facing charges, undermining modest advances in media freedoms in Myanmar since a half-century of military rule ended.