The chief of reporters for a Burmese publication, the "Flower News" journal, was arrested by the Kyauktada Township police for submitting a news report to a media outlet run by Burmese exiles.

Rangoon Division Police Department Chief Win Maung charged Saw Myint Than with violating the "Unlawful Associations Act" and the "Electronic Communication Law."

He faces up to one year in prison for each case if found guilty, a source at the Home Ministry said.

The news was about the killing of a yet unidentified car dealer and his wife in August 19.

The Rangoon Division Police summoned Saw Myint Than and gave him a dressing down for reporting the incident which was published in last week's issue of the "Flower News" journal. He was later put under arrest.

The source from the Home Ministry said the police accused him later of defaming the police department by submitting the news story to a news agency run by Burmese journalists in exile.

The Kyauktada Township police station declined to provide further details, as all police stations in the Rangoon Division had been barred recently from giving out information on crimes committed in their respective jurisdictions.

The Home Ministry had issued a circular authorizing only the Rangoon Division Police headquarters to release crime news to the media.

Incidentally, the news of the double homicide had passed the scrutiny of the Press Scrutiny Board under the Ministry of Information.

Source: Mizzima News Agency