Myanmar army files lawsuit against Reuters, lawmaker

10 March 2020
Myanmar army files lawsuit against Reuters, lawmaker
Three people walk along a road in Buthidaung township, Rakhine State. Photo: Richard Sargent/AFP

Myanmar police said the army had filed a lawsuit against Reuters and a local lawmaker for criminal defamation, weeks after the military objected to a news story published about the death of two Rohingya Muslim women as a result of shelling in Rakhine state, Reuters reported.

Police Lieutenant Kyaw Thu, the acting station head in Buthidaung township, in the north of Rakhine state, told Reuters both the news agency and the lawmaker were being sued under section 66D of the Telecommunications Act.

The section outlaw’s online defamation and carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison.