YANGON — Myanmar’s military junta Friday released award-winning documentary filmmaker and former RFA contributor Shin Daewe who had been in detention since October 2023 for buying a video drone.
Outside of Yangon’s Insein Prison, Shin Daewe, who was handed a life sentence for “abetting terrorism” in 2024, told Radio Free Asia that there are still many on the inside that were in need of prayers.
“I am the happiest,” she said. “Whether it’s me or one of the others, we all just wanted every day to see our families. I am lucky today, but I have many friends who are not as lucky as me. I ask everyone to pray for them too.”
Known for her work highlighting the challenges facing Myanmar’s environment and the impact of conflict on civilians following the military’s 2021 coup, Shin Daewe was arrested in October 2023 in Yangon while picking up a video drone she had ordered online to use in filming a documentary.
Then in January 2024, a military court sentenced her to life in prison, the maximum sentence under section 50(j) of the Counter-terrorism Law.
Observers at that time said the ruling was a bid by the junta to stamp out criticism by using lengthy sentences to instill fear in opponents to its rule.
The junta reduced her sentence to 15 years in January 2025 as part of a larger prisoner amnesty, before finally releasing her entirely on Friday.
Shin Daewe told RFA Friday evening that she is back home now healthy and happy, and that she is grateful to those who helped her during her time of need.
Shin Daewe had contributed to RFA’s Burmese Service since 2010 and up until her arrest.
“The news of Shin Daewe’s release from detention comes as a welcome relief. Shin Daewe suffered enormously and unfairly for her work to bring uncensored journalism to people in Myanmar. This development is a testament to efforts by many, including RSF and PEN America, to secure her release. I am heartened to learn Shin is back at her home, reunited with her family and loved ones,” said Bay Fang, President of RFA, in a statement released immediately after her freedom.
“The release of Shin Daewe is an immense relief, first and foremost for her loved ones, but also for the entire Myanmar journalism community. It must be made clear that she should never have been arrested, nor subjected to mistreatment. We now call on the Myanmar regime to immediately release the 40 journalists still detained in the country,” RSF said in a statement.
In 2024, Shin Daewe won a Gracie Award for her 2023 RFA video report, Ayeyarwady Riverbank Erosion, and a Wallis Annenberg Justice for Women Journalists Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation.
Edited by Eugene Whong.