Myanmar’s military files complaint against The Asahi Shimbun

25 February 2019
Myanmar’s military files complaint against The Asahi Shimbun
Myanmar military commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. Photo: Lynn Bo Bo/EPA

Myanmar’s military has filed a complaint with the country’s press council against a respected Japanese daily newspaper for publishing an interview with the Southeast Asian nation's commander-in-chief without allowing officials to read the text and approve it in advance, according to an RFA report.

The office of armed forces chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing called on the Myanmar Press Council (MPC), which received the notice earlier this week, to mediate the complaint that The Asahi Shimbun breached the country’s Media Law by failing to adhere to media ethics.

When the newspaper’s Yangon bureau chief Ruta Sometaya interviewed the military chief on Feb. 14 in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw, The Asahi Shimbun promised to show the draft to Min Aung Hlaing before publishing it to prevent mistakes and misunderstandings, but did not do so, the complaint said.