Sayeed Muhammad of DOT
Two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, jailed while reporting on the 2017 Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, were set to appeal the decision yesterday. They were arrested in December 2017 and later sentenced to seven years in prison under the country’s Official Secrets Act, which prosecutors said was the possession of classified material on security operations, the news agency reports. The duo pleaded not guilty, alleging that they had been framed by police. Reuters also challenge the charge, saying they were set up after probing the massacre of 10 Rohingya during a military crackdown forcing hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas to flee Myanmar’s Rakhine State for neighbouring Bangladesh.
The ruling in September by a Yangon district court sparked international outcry and widespread condemnation.
The media advocates say the convictions sent a chilling message about investigating sensitive issues in Myanmar as it emerges from decades of military rule.
Calls for their release fell flat inside Myanmar, with its de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi saying in September the jailing had nothing to do with freedom of expression. She said they were not jailed for being journalists.
Outside Myanmar, Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, have been feted with a string of prestigious awards presented in their absence and hailed as heroes.
The two reporters were also jointly named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year this month, alongside other persecuted and slain journalists, as concerns grow for deteriorating press freedoms around the world.
The anniversary of their arrest on December 12 was marked by newsrooms publishing photos of their staff flashing two thumbs up, a defiant gesture Wa Lone made at court that became synonymous with the duo’s resilience.
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