TWO REUTERS REPORTERS CHARGED
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo’s case comes under Official Secrets Act
PROSECUTORS sought charges yesterday against two Reuters reporters under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), which carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years, the reporters’ lawyer said.
Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, were detained on Dec 12 after they had been invited to meet police officers over dinner.
Family members have said the two told them they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some documents by the officers they had gone to meet.
The two had worked on Reuters coverage of a crisis in Rakhine, where, according to United Nations estimates, about 655,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from a fierce military crackdown on militants.
“We will face the charges filed against us,” Wa Lone said as he and Kyaw Soe Oo were led out of the court, and back to Insein Prison after the 30-minute hearing.
Khin Maung Zaw, a lawyer representing the two journalists, said the charges being sought came under Section 3 (1)(c) of the British colonial-era OSA.
Section 3 covers entering prohibited places, taking images or handling secret official documents that “might be or is intended to be, directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy”.
The Information Ministry had previously cited police as saying they were “arrested for possessing important and secret government documents related to Rakhine State and security forces”.
The ministry has said they “illegally acquired information with the intention to share it with foreign media”.
The case was adjourned until Jan 23. The prosecutor objected to an application for bail. The court took it under consideration and would decide at the next hearing, the lawyer said.
The government has said two police officers were also arrested for investigation under the OSA.
Observers from the UN and several embassies, including the Netherlands, Australia and Britain, were at the court, along with relatives of the two journalists. About 30 journalists were also outside the court, most dressed in black as a sign of protest against the arrest of the pair.
The two were brought to court in a police vehicle and emerged from it smiling, both in handcuffs. Wa Lone gave a thumbs-up sign.
Government officials from some of the world’s major nations, including the United States, Britain and Canada, as well as top UN officials, have called for the release of the reporters. Reuters