Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo
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.
The prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina on Sunday said Myanmar was delaying the Rohingya repatriation process without a specific cause.“When we talk, Myanmar always says it is ready to take back its nationals[...] .but the reality is that they say it, but don’t do it,” she said at a news conference held in Dhaka following a two-day visit to Nepal to attend a BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) summit, a seven-nation economic bloc of South Asia and South East Asia.Hasina said the Rohingya issue was not discussed at the event but that she had met Myanmar President Win Myint at the summit.“He acknowledged the agreement that we have inked. Myanmar says they are ready to take back their nationals,” Hasina said.Last December Bangladesh and Myanmar signed an agreement to repatriate Rohingya but the process is yet to start.Experts urge China to break silence on Rohingya crisisNearly 24,000 Rohingya killedIn a report, the UNHCR refugee agency said nearly 170,000 Rohingya likely fled Myanmar in 2012 alone.Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).In a recent report, Forced Migration of Rohingya: The Untold Experience, the OIDA raised the estimated number of murdered Rohingya to 23,962 (± 881) from a Doctors Without Borders figure of 9,400.More than 34,000 Rohingya were also thrown into fires, while over 114,000 others were beaten, the OIDA report said, adding that 17,718 (±780) Rohingya women and girls were raped by Myanmar’s army and police. Over 115,000 Rohingya houses were also burned down and 113,000 others vandalized, it added.According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly children and women, have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community.The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.The UN has documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by Myanmar state forces. In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.
Bangladesh PM: Myanmar delaying Rohingya repatriation
Two Myanmar journalists of the Reuters on Monday have been given seven years jail sentence for investigation into the murder of Rohingya Muslim men by the security officials in western Rakhine state.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 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 the state secret documents which they possibly transferred to the insurgent groups that are fighting against the government.Wa Lone said the ruling is unfair as they just did what journalists supposed to do during investigation into the unlawful killings.“We did nothing wrong, and we have no fear. We still believe in democracy and freedom of speech,” said Wa Lone.“We will fight for justice until the end,” he said.Defense lawyer Than Zaw Aung said the ruling is unfair. “We will do everything legally.”'Myanmar jailing of Reuters journalists harsh setback for media freedom'European Union demands freedom for two Reuters journalists jailed in MyanmarCriticismThe United States embassy, after the conviction, called on Myanmar to release the journalists immediately, saying it is “a major setback” to the Government of Myanmar's stated goal of expanding democratic freedoms.“The clear flaws in this case raise serious concerns about rule of law and judicial independence in Myanmar,” it said in a statement.The ruling also drew criticism from local and international rights groups.New York-based Human Rights Watch said it marks “a new low for press freedom and further backsliding on rights” under the government led by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, who was accused of failing to stop the military atrocities on Rohingya Muslims.“The outrageous convictions of the Reuters journalists show Myanmar courts’ willingness to muzzle those reporting on military atrocities,” said HRW’s Asia director Brad Adams.The journalists were investigating the massacre of 10 Rohingya men in a remote village in Rakhine state last September. Military had admitted soldiers were involved in the killing just days after the arrest of Reuters journalists in December.After their arrest, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were held incommunicado for two weeks, during which they were deprived of sleep and forced to kneel for hours during interrogation, according to the reporters and their lawyers.“These convictions won’t hide the horrors against the Rohingya from the world,” said Adams.“They merely reveal the precarious state of free speech in the country and the urgent need for international action to free these journalists.”Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also condemned the ruling and reiterated its call for the immediate release of the reporters.“The conviction of Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone is a terrible blow to press freedom in Myanmar,” RSF Secretary-General Christophe Deloire said in a statement.“As the justice system clearly followed orders in this case, we call on the country’s most senior officials, starting with government leader Aung San Suu Kyi, to free these journalists, whose only crime was to do their job. After a farcical prosecution, this outrageous verdict clearly calls into question Myanmar’s transition to democracy,” he added.Video: Families, diplomats 'disappointed' after Myanmar journalists verdict
Myanmar slaps prison sentences on two Reuters journalists