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YANGON: Two Reuters reporters accused of violating Myanmar's draconian secrecy law when reporting on the Rohingya crisis are to be tried, a judge ruled yesterday, for a sentence of up to 15 years. to 14 years in prison. The 32-year-old, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, have both been "charged under the State Secrets Act," said Judge Ye Lwin, who set July 16 as the date. months for preliminary hearings. They were arrested in December and charged with possession of disclosed sensitive material related to security operations in the state of Rakhine.
Reuters says the two are innocent and are simply doing their job by reporting on a Rohingya Muslim massacre and have urged the judge to dismiss the case. But Judge Ye Lwin ruled that the prosecution had shown enough evidence that men "gathered evidence" from state officials to pursue the case until the trial. The lawsuit filed against them has been denounced by rights groups and foreign observers as an attack on media freedom and an effort to stifle reporting on the Rohingya crisis
. Journalists say they were trapped by police – a version of the events apparently backed up in court by a whistle-blower who testified that officers were ordered to set up journalists
Both men were investigating a massacre of ten Rohingya Muslims in the Inn Din village in Rakhine State during the military crackdown on Rohingya militants last year
Before Reuters publishes its report on the massacre, the Myanmar authorities admitted 10 Rohingya. men were arrested and illegally killed in the village, subsequently suing several members of the security forces.
But Myanmar was manhandled Dire Inn Din was an isolated incident and was not part of a wider campaign of ethnic cleansing directed against Muslim Rohingyas, as claimed by the United Nations and the United Nations. United States. Wa Lone, who launched a provocative "boost" to reporters waiting at each appearance, promised to fight the case.
"We have the right to a defense The court did not decide that we were guilty."
In court, Kyaw Soe Oo denied any wrongdoing by saying "I was working as a journalist according to the Ethics. "The operations of the army forced more than 700 000 Rohingya in August 2017
They carried with them poignant stories of murders, rapes and arson in their villages perpetrated by Myanmar security forces and Rakhine Buddhist crowds. – AFP
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