Cape Argus

Myanmar sets journalist­s free

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YANGON: Two Reuters journalist­s who were serving seven-year sentences for violating Myanmar’s Official Secrets Act were released yesterday.

Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, smiled as they walked out of Yangon’s Insein prison after spending more than 500 days in detention.

They were among thousands of prisoners scheduled to be released in an amnesty granted by Myanmar president Win Myint.

On exiting the prison, Wa Lone said he was excited to see his family and return to the newsroom.

The pair were arrested in December 2017 while reporting on the massacre of 10 Rohingya men and boys in Rakhine state during counterins­urgency operations that displaced an estimated 730 000 Rohingya Muslims from the country.

UN investigat­ors have said the operations were carried out with “genocidal intent.” |

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