Myanmar jails reporters for exposing massacre

THERESA May has demanded the immediate release of two journalists jailed in Myanmar for their reporting of the Rohingya crisis.

A Burmese judge yesterday found Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, guilty of breaching a colonial-era law on state secrets and sentenced them both to seven years in prison.

The Reuters reporters were prosecuted after exposing a massacre of 10 Muslim men and implicated security forces in the killings.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said: “We are extremely disappointed with this verdict and sentencing and we call for the journalists to be released immediately. In any democracy, journalists must be free to carry out their jobs without fear or intimidation. This verdict has undermined freedom of the media in Myanmar.”

Dan Chugg, British ambassador to Myanmar, said the verdict had “dealt a hammer blow for the rule of law”.

He said: “The judge has appeared to have ignored evidence and to have ignored Myanmar law.”

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt wrote on Twitter: “Imprisoning journalists who write about inconvenient truths is an unconscionable blow to press freedom and indeed everyone’s freedom.

“Will be raising the extremely serious case of the two Reuters journalists on my forthcoming visit to Burma.”

Stephen J Adler, Reuters editor-inchief, said it was “a sad day” for the press and promised that he would not let the men “suffer this injustice”.

The men, who pleaded not guilty, told the court they were framed by police as a punishment for their coverage of the killings.

They claimed they were handed government documents by police in a restaurant just before other officers arrested them.

Last month UN inspectors found evidence the Burmese military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingyas and recommended six generals face genocide charges.

More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled into Bangladesh since troops launched a security crackdown in response to militant attacks.