Myanmar will free Japanese journalist as gesture to Tokyo

Myanmar's ruling junta says that as a gesture of friendship with Tokyo, it will free a Japanese freelance journalist who was jailed and charged with spreading false news or information that could cause public unrest

BANGKOK -- A Japanese freelance journalist in Myanmar who was jailed on charges of spreading false news or information will be freed by the country’s ruling junta as a gesture of friendship with Japan, Myanmar state media said Thursday. The announcement on the 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.