MYANMAR’S military court has sentenced a journalist to three years’ imprisonment for his reporting on the coup.

Min Nyo, a correspondent for the now-banned news agency Democratic Voices of Burma, is the first journalist to be convicted under a recently revised provision in the country’s penal code which criminalises free speech.

The change outlaws any attempt to “hinder, disturb, damage the motivation, discipline, health and conduct” of soldiers and civil servants or to cause hatred, disobedience or disloyalty towards the new military government, with a maximum sentence of three years in jail.

About 80 journalists have been arrested since the army seized power on February 1, ousting the government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

About half are still detained and most of them are being held under the same charge as Min Nyo, as are many activists opposed to the military regime.

Amnesty International said that Min Nyo’s case showed the ruthlessness of the junta and the risks faced by journalists exposing its abuses.