WASHINGTON – Radio Free Asia (RFA) Executive Editor Bay Fang issued the following statement about the release of former Burmese child soldier Aung Ko Htway, who was arrested, charged, and sentenced to prison in 2017 for comments made to RFA about his past experiences. Aung Ko Htway was released from a Yangon prison Friday morning after serving out a sentence of two years and six months for “incitement.”
“Radio Free Asia welcomes the news of Aung Ko Htway’s release, but also wishes to point out that in a country where basic freedoms are protected, authorities would not have been able to charge him in the first place,” Fang said. “Legal protections for both journalists and sources are necessary to enable press freedom and the survival of independent media.”
