Myanmar Official

Reuters Reporter accused in Myanmar under the Official Secrets Act | News

Myanmar tribunal has accused two detained Reuters correspondents for having received classified state records, bringing the groundbreaking case of media freedoms into the process after six month of pretrial. Ye Lwin, Yangon Regional Justice, indicted on Monday reporter Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, for violating the Spanish Democratic Republic's clandestine law, which provides for a 14-year jail sentence.

Reporteders argued not to blame. They were arrested in December for having materials related to safety operation in the conflict-affected Rakhine state. Burma has been condemned and accused worldwide of extra-judicial assassinations, ethnical purges and genocides, as some 700,000 Rohingya have escaped from Rakhine state in Myanmar to Bangladesh after the army took action against "insurgents".

Reuters' Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Stephen Adler said in a statement: "It is a great disappointment that the tribunal has refused to end this lengthy and unfounded trial of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. "Reuters have done their job independently and impartially, and there are no facts or proofs that they have done anything illegal or violated any laws.

"You should be set free and reunified with your family, your boyfriends and other people. Today's ruling raises serious doubts about Myanmar's engagement for media freedoms and the constitutional state," the declaration states. "A spokesperson for EU Minister of External Relations Federica Mogherini said in a statement: "The European Union looks forward to the dismissal and immediate release of the accusations against the two reporters who are persecuted for merely exerting their right to free speech and work, so that they can be reunified with their family and can return to their important work.

Since being arrested in Insein Jail in Yangon, the two journalists have been detained while confronted with trials to see if the case will be brought to justice, with testimonies. They had investigated the September 2 Rakhine Inn Din Rakhine community of 10 Rohingya men massacred by police and locals.

While Reuters was in jail, the army acknowledged the atrocities.