Myanmar: Reuters reporters investigating Rohingya crisis jailed for seven years / 'A blow to press freedom': world reacts to jailing of Reuters journalists

By Dilip -
Two Reuters journalists have each been sentenced to seven years in prison after they were found guilty breaching the official secrets act in Myanmar, prompting outcry from the international community.. Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were arrested in December whileinvestigating the killings of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State. They have been held in prison in Yangon ever since.
As he was led to a police van in handcuffs, Wa Lone said: “I have no fear. I have not done anything wrong … I believe in justice, democracy and freedom.”

Reuters said the verdict was “a major step backward” for Myanmar. “Today is a sad day for Myanmar, Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, and the press everywhere,” Reuters editor in chief Stephen Adler said in a statement. Adler called for Myanmar to review the decision urgently.
Defence lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said the verdict was “bad for our country”. Press freedom advocates, the United Nations, the European Union and countries including the United States, Canada and Australia had called for the men to be acquitted. Knut Ostby, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar, said the UN was “disappointed by today’s court decision.” "Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo should be allowed to return to their families and continue their work as journalists,” he said.
The journalists were looking into the deaths of 10 Rohingya at the hands of soldiers and Buddhist villagers in Inn Din, a village in the north of the state. After being invited to a dinner by officers, they were detained. Prosecutors accused the men of obtaining secret state documents, in breach of the Official Secrets Act. The journalists said they were framed by police who gave them the documents during the dinner, and that they were targeted for their reporting. Kyaw Soe Oo said that while being investigated he was deprived of sleep, forced to kneel for hours and had a black hood placed over his head. Concerned by what was widely seen as a draconian attack by Myanmar authorities on the free press, dozens of journalists and activists marched in Yangon in support of the men on Sunday.

Dan Chugg, Britain’s ambassador to Myanmar, said he was “extremely disappointed” by the verdict.
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, called it an “outrageous injustice”.
“This conviction of the two Reuters reporters is a hammer blow against media freedom in Myanmar, showing just how afraid the Tatmadaw [Myanmar armed forces] and Myanmar government are of investigative journalism and critical commentary customarily found in a real democracy.”

The verdict comes during a time of intense international scrutiny on Myanmar authorities following a damning UN report about the military’s treatment of the Rohingya, which it said amounted to ethnic cleansing. More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar to bordering Bangladesh over the past year after a campaign of violence by the military. Last week, the UN said that Myanmar army generals should be investigated and prosecuted for “gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law”. In the report, which was rejected by the Myanmar government, de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi was criticised for failing to support the Rohingya.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/03/myanmar-reuters-journalists-sentenced-to-seven-years-in-prison-rohingya

'A blow to press freedom': world reacts to jailing of Reuters journalists
The seven-year jail sentence handed down to two Reuters journalistsarrested in Myanmar while investigating a massacre of Rohingya Muslims was condemned worldwide as a travesty of justice and severe blow to press freedom in the south-east Asian country. Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were found guilty on Monday of breaching the Official Secrets Act, under laws introduced in 1923 under British rule. They have been held in prison since December, when they were arrested while reporting on an alleged massacre of 10 Rohingya at the hands of soldiers and Buddhist villagers in Inn Din, a village in the north of Rakhine state.


The sentences, and the lack of condemnation by Aung San Suu Syi, the Nobel peace prize winner and now state counsellor, a position akin to prime minister, led to claims that her international reputation was now in shreds…read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/03/a-blow-to-press-freedom-world-reacts-to-jailing-of-reuters-journalists-in-myanmar

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