Myanmar Supreme Court hears Reuters reporters’ appeal in litmus test for press freedom, democracy

Detained Myanmar journalist Wa Lone (C) speaks to reporters while escorted by police to a court for his ongoing pre-trial hearing in Yangon on July 9, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / STR
Detained Myanmar journalist Wa Lone (C) speaks to reporters while escorted by police to a court for his ongoing pre-trial hearing in Yangon on July 9, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / STR

Myanmar’s top court today heard the appeal of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters reporters imprisoned under a colonial-era official secrets law while conducting a groundbreaking investigation into the massacre of 10 Rohingya men by Myanmar soldiers.

This is their last available appeal for early release in a case that has come to be seen the world over as a litmus test for Myanmar’s commitment to a free press, an independent judiciary, and even to its very transition into a functioning democracy.

Details of what happened in the courtroom today remained scant as of press time, but earlier in the day Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler called on Myanmar’s Supreme Court to rectify the mistake that has kept the two Reuters reporters behind bars for more than a year.

“Myanmar’s Supreme Court has the opportunity to correct the serious miscarriage of justice inflicted on Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo for the last 15 months. They are honest, admirable journalists who did not break the law, and they should be freed as a matter of urgency,” Adler said in a statement.

Standing outside the court In Naypyitaw after the hearing today, Kyaw Soe Oo’s wife, Chit Su Win, told Reuters that they “are expecting to reunite as a family as soon as possible.”

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were not present for today’s hearing.

The reporters were sentenced to seven years of hard labor in September after a controversial year-long trial riddled with inconsistencies, disregard for key evidence, and accusations of entrapment.

The journalists repeatedly asserted that they were victims of a police set-up, something corroborated by former police captain and whistleblower Moe Yan Naing, who testified in court that a superior ordered police to “get” Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo by planting documents on them.

Shortly after testifying, Moe Yan Naing was jailed for a year for violating the Police Disciplinary Code through his testimony.

In December 2017, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested by plainclothes police outside of a north Yangon restaurant after they were handed a rolled-up newspaper with documents inside. They disappeared without a trace, only to resurface a few days later when they were formally charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act.

They have remained in prison ever since, with Wa Lone missing the birth of his daughter, and and Kyaw Soe Oo marking his 29th birthday in prison this month.

At the time of their arrest, they were working on a Reuters investigation into the massacre of 10 Rohingya men and boys that ultimately forced the Myanmar military to make a rare admission of guilt, and led to the conviction of seven Myanmar soldiers. The soldiers were sentenced to 10 years each for their participation in the Inn Dinn massacre.

The massacre happened during the brutal Aug., 2017 military campaign that drove more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims into neighboring Bangladesh, where they are still languishing in overcrowded camps with limited access to education, nutrition, and sanitation.

Back in August, Reuters defense lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said that they were prepared to exhaust every possible option, including lobbying for a presidential pardon.

“If we are not satisfied with the Supreme Court decision given by one judge, then we will apply for a full bench in what is called a ‘special appeal.’ That will be a final decision. But even after that, in very rare cases, we can apply to the judges under Section 18 of the Burmese Judiciary Law to call for the case to be reviewed [again] by a Supreme Court justice,” he told Coconuts Yangon in August.

Even if this fails, they will be lobbying Myanmar’s president, U Win Myint, for a presidential pardon.

“We worked together, and he is just, very firm, very lenient person,” he added.

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