An Australian journalist has been deported from Myanmar after covering protests against the jailing of a colleague, media reports and rights groups said on Friday.
Myanmar immigration authorities said Angus Watson, 24, who worked for the Yangon bureau of the Democratic Voice of Burma , was deported on Thursday for breaching the terms of his business visa, the Mizzima news service reported.
Mr. Watson’s deportation came the day after he covered a protest in Mayway, central Myanmar, demanding the release of DVB journalist Ko Zaw Pe, who was on Tuesday sentenced to one year in prison for trespassing and disturbing a civil servant’s efforts to investigate a local corruption scandal.
“Deporting journalists harkens back to Burma’s half-century of military rule and is one of many signs that democratic reforms have been illusory,” said Bob Dietz, Asia director for the Committee to Protect Journalists.
