Organizers of the recent Dili Dialogue Forum held in Timor-Leste from 25-26 August have issued a statement of apology over the controversial presentation by Myanmar delegate Aye Chan in which he presented the Myanmar junta’s view of his country and media coverage.

The presentation by Aye Chan caused controversy given it painted an incorrect view of the current Myanmar crisis.

The organizers, the Conselho de Imprensa (Press Council) of Timor-Leste, issued both a press statement and also a letter of complaint to Aye Chan, as representative of the Myanmar military-controlled Myanmar Press Council, for his presentation, which misrepresented the facts about the crisis, and includes mention of the criticism made by Jim Nolan, a representative of the International Federation of Journalist, who took serious issue with the speech. In this letter, the organizers said they would no longer invite members of the junta’s Myanmar Press Council to events.

The event organizers issued the following statement of apology on 13 September:

O DE CONSELHO DE IMPRENSA DE TIMOR-LESTE Press Statement on the presence and Presentation of Mr. U Aye Chan, Myanmar Delegate to Dili Dialogue Forum 2022

Conselho de Imprensa (Press Council) de Timor-Leste on August 25 -26, 2022, conducted its annual international event, the Dili Dialogue Forum 2022 (DDF), aiming to share perspectives and experiences on media development and challenges in the region. For this year, the DDF 2022, was the first presential conference since 2019, and as usual the chairs or representatives from its founders: the Indonesian Press Council (Dewan Pers Indonesia), the Myanmar Press Council and the National Press Council of Thailand were invited to attend and share their perspectives on their respective countries. National and international media practitioners, media-owners, journalist organizations and press freedom advocators were also invited to attend.

As the organiser, Conselho de Imprensa deeply regrets the presentation of Mr. U Aye Chan, the representative of Myanmar Press Council in DDF 2022, which is totally misleading and reflects more the political position of the military Junta, Tatmadaw, than the real situation of press freedom in Myanmar. Since the presentation of Mr. Chan, like others delegates, was a one-way presentation, so there was no chance for the audience to contest his statements.

As the host and as an entity of a democratic country, Conselho de Imprensa respects its guest's right and freedom to express their point of view in the forum. This is our commitment shown since the Dili Dialogue Forum was established in 2017. Myanmar Press Council, besides being a co-founder, is also an active participant of the Dili Dialogue Forum. The representative of Myanmar Press Council in 2017, 2018 and 2019 was Mr. Maung Maung San. The wise and kindness of Mr. Maung Maung San was a factual warrant to Conselho de Imprensa to not to take into account that the new representative of Myanmar Press Council will present a different and unwise performance in this Dili Dialogue Forum 2022.

Conselho de Imprensa also rejects the narratives used by Mr. Chan in his news piece published in Myanmar News Agency, gnl.com.mm, on August 29, 2022, [https://www.gnlm.com.mm/myanmar-delegate-explains-current-true-events-of... upon his return to Myanmar, which states that "..the attendees expressed their astonishment over the presentation at the forum in comparison with the fake news of Myanmar mentioned in the international media." We consider this to be totally disinformation. The real information is that, Mr. Chan leaves his chair during a session where the representative from International Federation of Journalists, IFJ, Jim Nolan contested his statements and dismantled all the political propaganda he made in the presentation.

In relation to the above-mentioned facts, Conselho de Imprensa would like to affirm its position as the following:

• Conselho de Imprensa deeply regrets the statements of Mr. U Aye Chan, the representative of Myanmar Press Council presented at the Dili Dialogue Forum on 25th August 2022 regarding the media situation in Myanmar and Mr. Chan's misleading narratives published in Myanmar News Agency;
• Conselho de Imprensa has decided to exclude Mr. U Aye Chan and all Tatmadaw-appointed Press Council members from all its future programs and events;
• Conselho de Imprensa will raise this issue at the level of Southeast Asian Press Council Network, proposing the review of Myanmar Press Council membership status in the network;
• Conselho de Imprensa would like to express strong solidarity to all Myanmar independent media and journalists who are continuously fighting for freedom inside and outside Myanmar;
• Conselho de Imprensa would like to extend our profound apology to all our partners involved in this regretful situation.

The Dili Dialogue Forum was held on August 25 and 26, attended by chairs of press councils from Timor-Leste, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmar. Photo: Conselho de Imprensa de Timor-Leste