Lawyers ask court to dismiss case

YANGON: Lawyers for two Reuters reporters jailed in Myanmar asked a judge on Wednesday to dismiss the case against them, arguing there was insufficient evidence to support charges of obtaining secret government papers.

Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28 have been charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Both defence and prosecution lawyers made arguments in front of Judge Ye Lwin on Wednesday, after defence filed a motion to have the case thrown out last week.

The reporters’ lawyers argued that the testimony from witnesses called by the prosecution was insufficient to charge the pair. They also pointed to alleged inconsistencies in witness testimony and procedural mistakes made by the authorities during the arrest and subsequent searches.

Lead prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung argued against the dismissal of the case, reiterating the prosecution’s position that the documents the reporters had in their possession were secret and that the court should assume they intended to spill state secrets and harm the country.

Myanmar’s government spokesman, Zaw Htay, told Reuters by telephone that under Myanmar’s constitution, the courts were independent, “so the judge will decide whether to dismiss the case or not”.

Judge Ye Lwin has adjourned proceedings until April 11 when he is expected to rule on the dismissal motion.

The journalists had been working on a Reuters investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men in the village of Inn Din, in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state, during an army crackdown that has sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

They told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some rolled up papers at a restaurant in northern Yangon by two policemen they had never met before.

Police witnesses, however, have said the reporters were stopped and searched at a traffic checkpoint by officers who were unaware they were journalists. When searched, they were found to be holding in their hands documents relating to security force deployments in Rakhine.

The journalist’s defence claims the papers contained only publicly available information and could not be deemed secret.

Senior UN officials, Western nations and press freedom advocates have called for the release of the journalists and diplomats from France, Sweden, the United States and the United Nations were among those who attended Wednesday’s hearing.

“We only did our work as reporters. I want the people to understand that and want to share that I never betrayed the country,” said the reporter on the steps of the courthouse as he was hauled off inside a police van.

After the hearing Wa Lone said he was not “a traitor”.