Myanmar charges Japanese journalist over alleged fake news

A Japanese journalist arrested in Myanmar has been charged with spreading fake news, the country’s Japanese embassy has said.

Yuki Kitazumi is the first foreign journalist known to be charged since the coup.

He was arrested in April and has been in prison since.

More than 700 people have been killed and thousands detained, including many local journalists, since Myanmar’s military staged a coup in February.

Mr Kitazumi who was working as a freelance journalist had been reporting for many of Japan’s major news outlets, appearing as a rare foreign reporter from within Myanmar (also called Burma).

The 45-year old was arrested on 18 April when police raided his home in the country’s main city Yangon (Rangoon). He had already been briefly detained on 26 February.

The Japanese embassy in Myanmar said he showed no health problems but added they were urging the military to release him.

If found guilty, he faces up to three years in prison, according to Japanese media.

Aside from covering the coup and the subsequent protests and killings for Japanese newspapers and broadcasters, Mr Kitazumi had also frequently posted about the situation and its impact on citizens on his social media accounts.

Agencies