File phoot: Reuters journalist Wa Lone departs Insein court after his verdict announcement in Yangon, Myanmar, September 3, 2018.
Seventy-six Myanmar civil society groups called on Tuesday for the release of two jailed Reuters reporters, denouncing their conviction as unfair and an assault on the right to freedom of information.
A court found the two journalists guilty on Monday of breaching a law on state secrets and jailed them for seven years in a landmark case seen as a test of progress towards democracy in Myanmar, which was ruled by a military junta until 2011.
Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were investigating the killing of villagers from the Rohingya Muslim minority by security forces and civilians when they were arrested in December. They had pleaded not guilty.
The U.K. has called for the immediate release of two Reuters journalists imprisoned by a Myanmar court for reporting on the atrocities targeting Rohingya minority in the country.“As our Ambassador to Burma [Myanmar], who attended the hearing, has said, we are extremely disappointed with this verdict and sentencing,” British Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokesman said Monday.“And we call for the journalists to be released immediately. In any democracy, journalists must be free to carry out their jobs without fear or intimidation. This verdict has undermined freedom of the media in Myanmar,” he added.UN human rights chief Bachelet urges Myanmar to free Reuters reportersA Myanmar court on Monday sentenced two Reuters news agency journalists to seven years in jail for investigation into the murder of Rohingya Muslim men by security officials.Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, are charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison during the investigation into the murder of 10 Rohingya men in the western Rakhine state.Judge Ye Lwin of Yangon’s Northern District Court said each journalist was handed a seven-year imprisonment as they were found guilty of obtaining and possessing classified documents which they possibly transferred to the insurgent groups that are fighting against the government.UK's Hunt to visit Myanmar, raise case of jailed Reuters journalistsWa Lone said the ruling is unfair and that he believed in "democracy and freedom of speech".Also expressing his "extreme disappointment", British Foreign Office Minister for Asia and the Pacific Mark Field said the journalists were sentenced for nothing more than "doing their jobs"."They provided valuable reporting on abhorrent human rights violations in Rakhine State, and I have consistently called for their immediate release, including directly with the Burmese government," Field said."This is a bad day for Burma, but those of us who have consistently called for Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo’s freedom will not give up," he added.'Myanmar jailing of Reuters journalists harsh setback for media freedom'London-based Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) said the convictions of the journalists “signals another failure by the National League for Democracy administration to protect human rights and press freedom in Burma, and stands in stark contrast to the impunity enjoyed by the military for the crimes that these reporters exposed.”“Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo’s sentence shows how the Burmese state -- under Aung San Suu Kyi’s leadership -- punishes those who expose the military’s atrocities,” said BHRN Executive Director Kyaw Win.“This verdict must be overturned, and justice and accountability served in the case of the war crimes that these brave journalists reported on,” he added.Myanmar slaps prison sentences on two Reuters journalistsWa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo uncovered the murder of 10 Rohingya men buried in a mass grave in Inn Din village; their reporting demonstrated how the murders were systematically carried out by Burmese security forces, the statement from BHRN said.The convictions of two journalists drew a large scale international criticism as well.The U.S., the EU and various international human rights organizations denounced the imprisonment of the journalists and urged for their release.
UK calls for immediate release of Reuters journalists
"The entire trial process was neither free nor fair and was completely manipulated," the groups, including youth, educational and peace organisations, said in a joint statement posted on Twitter.
The conviction of the two reporters drew condemnation from the United Nations, many Western governments including the United States, Britain and France, and international organisations.
Several diplomats said it raised questions about Myanmar's transition towards democracy after nearly 50 years of harsh military rule, and about the commitment to human rights of the government, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called on Myanmar to free two Reuters journalists jailed on Monday for their reporting of the Rohingya crisis, as well as all other journalists detained for exercising their freedom of expression.A Myanmar judge earlier on Monday found the two Reuters journalists guilty of breaching a law on state secrets and jailed them for seven years, in a landmark case seen as a test of progress towards democracy in the Southeast Asian country."Their conviction follow a legal process that clearly breached international standards," Bachelet said in a statement. "It sends a message to all journalists in Myanmar that they cannot operate fearlessly, but must rather make a choice to either self-censor or risk prosecution." UK's Hunt to visit Myanmar, raise case of jailed Reuters journalists'Myanmar jailing of Reuters journalists harsh setback for media freedom'European Union demands freedom for two Reuters journalists jailed in MyanmarMyanmar slaps prison sentences on two Reuters journalists
UN human rights chief Bachelet urges Myanmar to free Reuters reporters
"We take this as a crackdown on the right of access to information and media freedom, and an oppressive gesture on all concerned people of Myanmar who are aspiring and building for a society characterised by rule of law, accountability, freedom and justice," the civil society groups said in an English-language statement.
The reporters had told the court two police officials handed them papers at a restaurant in the city of Yangon moments before other officers arrested them on Dec. 12.
One police witness testified the restaurant meeting was a set-up to entrap the journalists to block or punish them for their reporting of a mass killing of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State. The judge said on Monday that testimony had not been corroborated by any other witnesses.
The German government's human rights commissioner on Monday called the conviction of two Reuters journalists in Myanmar for their reporting of the Rohingya crisis "a harsh setback" for freedom of the press in the southeastern Asia country.A Myanmar judge has found Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo guilty of breaching a law on state secrets and jailed them for seven years.Baerbel Kofler, human rights commissioner for the German government, said she was crushed to hear the news and expressed concern that the conviction would intimidate other journalists. "The two journalists ... did nothing but support the search for truth in Rakhine (state)," she said. European Union demands freedom for two Reuters journalists jailed in MyanmarMyanmar slaps prison sentences on two Reuters journalists
'Myanmar jailing of Reuters journalists harsh setback for media freedom'
A police officer also told the court that he burned notes he made at the time of the reporters’ arrest, but didn’t explain why. Several prosecution witnesses contradicted the police account of where the arrests took place. A police major conceded the "secret" information allegedly found on the reporters wasn’t actually a secret.
Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay could not be reached for comment about the verdict. He has mostly declined to comment throughout the proceedings, saying the courts were independent and the case would be conducted according to the law.
The European Union called on Monday for the immediate and unconditional release of two Reuters journalists handed jail sentences in Myanmar for their reporting of the Rohingya crisis.Earlier on Monday a Myanmar judge found Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, guilty of breaching a law on state secrets and jailed them for seven years.The EU's foreign policy service said the sentence "undermines the freedom of the media, the public's right to information and the development of the rule of law in Myanmar"."The prison sentences of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo should be reviewed and the two journalists be released immediately and unconditionally," it said in a statement.Bangladesh PM: Myanmar delaying Rohingya repatriationMyanmar slaps prison sentences on two Reuters journalists
European Union demands freedom for two Reuters journalists jailed in Myanmar
The conviction of the reporters comes amid mounting pressure on the government over the crackdown on the Rohingya in Rakhine State in west Myanmar. The crackdown was sparked by attacks by Rohingya insurgents on security forces in August 2017.
A U.N mandated fact-finding mission said last week that Myanmar's military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingya with "genocidal intent" and called for top generals to be prosecuted. Myanmar rejected the findings.
More than 700,000 stateless Rohingya Muslims have fled into Bangladesh since the crackdown was launched, according to U.N. agencies.
The reporters were arrested on Dec. 12 while investigating the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men in Inn Din, a village in Rakhine State. The 10 men were shot and hacked to death by soldiers and civilians, and dumped in a shallow grave.
Myanmar has denied allegations of atrocities made by refugees against its security forces, saying they conducted a legitimate counter-insurgency operation against Muslim militants.
But the military acknowledged the killing of the 10 Rohingya at Inn Din after arresting the Reuters reporters. In April, the army announced that seven soldiers had been sentenced to "10 years in prison with hard labour in a remote area" for participating in the killings.