Myanmar’s Supreme Court rejects final appeal by jailed Reuters reporters
- Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have spent more than 16 months in detention since they were arrested in December 2017
- Lawyers for the reporters had appealed to the Supreme Court citing lack of proof of a crime and evidence that the pair were set up by police
“They were sentenced for seven years and this decision stands, and the appeal is rejected,” Supreme Court Justice Soe Naing told the court in the capital, Naypyidaw, without elaborating.
Lawyers for the reporters had appealed to the Supreme Court citing lack of proof of a crime and evidence that the pair were set up by police. A policeman told a lower court last year that officers had planted secret documents on the two reporters.
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“Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo did not commit any crime, nor was there any proof that they did,” Gail Gove, Reuters chief counsel, said in a statement after the ruling.
“Instead, they were victims of a police set-up to silence their truthful reporting. We will continue to do all we can to free them as soon as possible.”
A District Court judge in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, found the two journalists guilty under the Official Secrets Act last September and sentenced them to seven years in prison. The Yangon High Court rejected an earlier appeal in January.
The courtroom on Tuesday was crowded with diplomats and observers. After the verdict was announced, the head of the UN in Myanmar, Knut Ostby, said he was disappointed.
“The United Nations will continue to call for full respect of freedom of the press and human rights,” he said in a statement. “Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo should be allowed to return to their families and continue their work as journalists.”
UN investigators have called for high-ranking military officials to be prosecuted for crimes against humanity and genocide over a 2017 crackdown on the Rohingya in response to militant attacks in the western part of the country.
Both Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are being held at Yangon’s Insein prison and were not present to hear the Supreme Court verdict.
Their wives, who had travelled from Yangon to hear the verdict on Tuesday, emerged from the courtroom quietly wiping away tears.
Panei Mon, Wa Lone’s wife, who gave birth to their first child last year, said she had been “hoping for the best”.
“Our husbands are good people,” she said. “We want them to be released as soon as possible.”
We will continue to do all we can to free them as soon as possible
A report released in February by Human Rights Watch noted that expectations of a new era of freedom of expression under the government of Suu Kyi remain unfulfilled nearly three years after her party ended more than five decades of harsh military rule.
The military, however, remains powerful and controls key ministries that are not under civilian oversight, such as defence and internal security.
The report said Suu Kyi’s government has failed to roll back many of the legal restrictions imposed by past military regimes on freedom of speech and assembly, and has instead toughened some of those laws and enacted a new measure limiting free speech.
Journalists have been some of the most high-profile targets. The report cited a Myanmar freedom of expression organisation, Athan, as saying that at least 43 journalists have been arrested from when Suu Kyi’s government took power in 2016 through last September.
In a new case, the online magazine The Irrawaddy reported on Monday that it has been sued by the army for its coverage of recent fighting between the government and the Arakan Army ethnic rebel group.
It said the suit was filed under Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, which provides for up to three years in prison for “extorting, coercing, restraining wrongfully, defaming, disturbing, causing undue influence or threatening any person using a telecommunications network.”
Additional reporting by Associated Press
