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A Myanmar court ruled Monday that two Reuters journalists accused of obtaining state secrets under a colonial law will be tried by reporters local and international groups who consider this decision as a blow to the press
Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, pleaded not guilty to the Yangon District Court on the grounds that they were doing their job as reporters, not collecting and copying documents, and both men were formally charged on January 10, approximately one month after their arrest in the suburbs of Yangon on December 12 after dinner with two police officers who handed over papers related to a brutal military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State, West Myanmar.
They were detained in Insein Prison in Yangon while they were attending preliminary hearings that lasted six months. Their attorneys and others argued that the charges against them should be dropped after a police officer – a prosecution witness – stated that a senior officer had ordered his subordinates to be arrested. install the reporters
. that both should be tried because the documents found on them and on their mobile phones went from confidential to top secret.
Journalists, who have maintained their innocence, incur up to 14 years in prison when they are found guilty. Their next date of hearing is July 16th.
"Although we have been charged, we are not guilty," Wa Lone told reporters outside the courthouse on Monday. "Everyone knows that we have covered the news about human rights violations in Rakhine according to journalistic ethics and we will not back down, abandon or be shaken by this."
Defense attorney Khin Maung Zaw also said that the reporters adhered to ethnic reporters by doing their job while they discovered the details of the massacre of 10 men and boys Rohingya in a village in Rakhine was part of a larger crackdown by Myanmar security forces last year that drove more than 700,000 Muslims across the border into Bangladesh
"We will do our best to defend them in future hearings to show that the journalists had no intention of harming the interests of the nation or the government, "he said." They did not collect any money. Secret information and distributed it; Tharlon Zaung Htet, a member of Myanmar's Committee for the Protection of Journalists, said the court ignored the testimony of police captain Moe Yan Naing who said that Brigadier General Tin Ko Ko said "I think that Is very unfortunate for our country and our judicial system, "he told the RFA service in Myanmar. "It is also the beginning of the end of our democratic reform.It is a dark day for the Myanmar media."
Ohn Kyaing, vice president of the Myanmar Press Council, said : "The accusations against these journalists are very heavy and have been submitted too quickly in court out of our reach."
"Great alarm for all journalists"
Htet Khaung Linn, reporter at Myanmar Now, a nonprofit news agency funded by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, noted that Myanmar de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi told the Japanese channel NHK in June that Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo had been arrested because they had violated the law on official secrets and that the judiciary of the country would decide their fate. let's say it's a coincidence, [but] we have two presidents under the NLD government and the freedom of the media is only getting worse, "he said, referring to Aung San Suu Kyi as State Councilor she created after her National League for Democracy. The party has come to power at the end of March 2016, so she could be above the president.
Zayar Hlaing, editor of the investigative magazine Maw Kun published by Myanmar Observer Media Group, said: The current government is a democratic government, it is still unsatisfactory for the media, and this situation has become shameful in the international community [eyes of the ]. "
Kyaw Min Swe, former editor of the independent newspaper ] The Voice who was charged with online defamation in 2017 for an article that made fun of the Myanmar army, stated that even if the result has not been right up to now, journalists can still appeal to various courts, is unfair to these journalists, "he said. "There should be a better way to solve this case.The method that the authorities are using now is the one they always use, which is not good for the country and for the dignity of the people."
Journalist Thiha Thway, Myanmar correspondent for NHK, said Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo will go to trial because of information found on their phones that prosecutors said to be confidential or top secret does not bode well for them other journalists.
"This is a huge message and a great alarm for all journalists". "I feel shaken by this, that law [Official Secrets] should be amended to not contain such terms, it is as if the authorities were using them to take advantage of journalists instead of removing or modifying them."
Defense lawyers pointed out that almost all of the information on their phones came from online and published news.
Myanmar journalists Kyaw Soe Oo (front-C) and Wa Lone (second behind R) are escorted by the police from a court following a hearing in Yangon, Myanmar, on July 9, 2018. [19659019] Credit: AFP
"Delayed Press Freedom"
The international community reacted to the court's decision with warnings that press freedom in Myanmar continues to decline.
Journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo under the Official Secrets Act of 1923 threaten fundamental freedoms, free media and the public's right to freedom of the media in Myanmar, said Frederica Mogherini, head of diplomacy.
EU He expects the Myanmar court to drop the charges against the two journalists who were exercising their rights to freedom of expression and their work, and they are released immediately, she said
. "We are deeply disappointed by the court's decision to prosecute journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo for alleged violation of the law on official secrets," said a statement released on Monday's Facebook page. 39; Embassy. 19659002] "Myanmar authorities should allow journalists to return to work and their families," he added. "Today's decision is a setback for freedom of the press and the rule of law in Myanmar."
The Geneva-based International Commission for Jurists also called on the authorities to drop the charges. lawsuits against those men who appear to have legally done their job as investigative journalists, "said Sean Bain, the NGO's legal adviser in Yangon, in a statement released on Monday.
" L & N Prosecution has not provided credible evidence of wrongdoing for six months of hearings, "he said." So it's hard to imagine a legal justification. " valid for the ongoing prosecution of journalists. "
Phil Robertson, New York-based vice-director of Asia for Human Rights Watch (HRW) blasted the decision as a blow to press freedom. [19659002"TheCourt'sdecisiontoaccusethesetwojournalistsisablowtoMyanmar'sfreedomofthemediaandshowshowfragilethecountry'sdemocraticreformsare"hesaidinastatementMonday
Acting is a legal contempt of a Late colonial era that should have been abolished by Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD government in the early days after they took power, unmaintained and used to intimidate journalists, "he said . On Monday, HRW and 45 other NGOs and faith-based organizations sent a letter to the US Congress to urge it to pass legislation to strengthen targeted sanctions against Myanmar's military commanders involved in human rights abuses. man in Rakhine. 19659002] The United States and the United Nations declared that the atrocities committed by the military against the Rohingya, including killings, torture, rape and arson, constituted ethnic cleansing and imposed sanctions against those responsible for this violence. ] & # 39; A black day & # 39;
London-based Amnesty International has called for the continuation of the "a black day for freedom of the press in Myanmar" track.
This zany and politically motivated case has deeply troubling and far-reaching implications for independent journalism in the country, "said Tirana Hassan, director of the Amnesty crisis response, in a statement released on Monday.
The law – even after widespread national and international condemnation – is a clear sign that the authorities intend to silence critical voices, "she said. the other journalists working in the country that express it has serious consequences. "
Stephen J. Adler, president and editor-in-chief of Reuters, also expressed dissatisfaction with the decision.
We are deeply disappointed that the court has refused to put an end to this lengthy and baseless procedure against Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, "he said in a statement Monday. "These Reuters journalists were doing their job independently and impartially, and there are no facts or evidence to suggest that they did anything wrong or broke a law."
"They should be released and be reunited with their families, friends and colleagues," he said. "Today's decision casts serious doubt on Myanmar's commitment to the rule of law. freedom of the press and the rule of law. "
Reported by Aung Theinkha and Kyaw Thu for the Myanmar Service of the FRG Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin
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