Thailand police arrest three Burmese journos

Three journalists working for a news agency in Myanmar who fled after the junta ordered its operations to stop have been arrested by police in Thailand, their editor has said.

The three work for DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma), an online and broadcast news agency, its executive director and chief editor, Aye Chan Naing, said. Burma is the former name for Myanmar.

He said the three, along with two activists, whom he did not identify, were arrested on Sunday

in Chiang Mai during a random search by police. They were charged with illegal entry into Thailand, he said.

From photos published by local Thai media, it appeared that the journalists may have continued to report from a single-story house in which they seemed to have set up a makeshift video production studio.

Myanmar’s junta, which seized power in February and ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, has attempted to silence independent news media by withdrawing their licences and by arresting journalists. About 40 are currently in detention.