Society

Myanmar to free Japanese journalist as gesture to Tokyo

May 14 (hindustantimes.com) - A Japanese freelance journalist in Myanmar who was jailed and charged with spreading false news or information that could cause public unrest will be freed by the country’s ruling junta as a gesture of friendship with Japan, a state television report said Thursday.

The announcement on Myanmar's army-run Myawaddy TV said Yuki Kitazumi had been arrested on April 18 for “inciting” the country’s anti-military civil disobedience movement and riots.

“Although the journalist is a lawbreaker, the case will be closed and he will be released at the request of the Special Envoy of the Japanese Government for National Reconciliation in Myanmar, in view of the close ties and future relations between Myanmar and Japan," said a news reader, quoting an official statement from the junta, formally called the State Administrative Council.

The military seized power on Feb. 1, ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. It has faced large and constant popular opposition, which it has tried to suppress with the use of force that has cost hundreds of lives and by muzzling the news media.

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