EU Urges Myanmar To Release 2 Reuters Journalists From Prison, Review Sentences

EU Urges Myanmar to Release 2 Reuters Journalists From Prison, Review Sentences

The European Union on Monday called on Myanmar's authorities to release two jailed journalists for the Reuters news agency, who previously investigated the mass execution of members of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine state, and reconsider their sentences

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd September, 2018) The European Union on Monday called on Myanmar's authorities to release two jailed journalists for the Reuters news agency, who previously investigated the mass execution of members of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine state, and reconsider their sentences.

The UK-headquartered news agency reported earlier in the day that Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, had been found guilty by a Myanmar court of violating the law on state secrets and sentenced to seven years in prison.

"Today's court decision to sentence Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo to 7 years of imprisonment 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," the European External Action Service's spokesperson said in a statement.

The spokesperson noted that the sentencing and imprisonment of these journalists would intimidate other media workers into fearing prosecution for doing their jobs.

"The European Union and EU Member States diplomats were among the many international observers present at every court hearing since the journalists' arrest on 12 December 2017 and have continuously raised the matter with the Myanmar government. We therefore reiterate our expectation that the authorities ensure adequate conditions for journalists to carry out their work," the statement continued.

The two Reuters reporters were charged with obtaining classified documents in July after being arrested in December.

According to the news agency, they pleaded not guilty and claimed that law enforcement planted the classified documents on them.

The two journalists investigated the mass execution of the Rohingya by armed local residents and the army in the Inn Din village in September 2017. The massacre was one of the episodes of persecution against the Muslim minority on the part of Myanmar's authorities and local residents that resulted in a major humanitarian and migration crisis. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya are fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh.