View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. News
November 22, 2018updated 30 Sep 2022 7:08am

Reuters journalists jailed under Official Secrets Act given permission to appeal guilty verdict in Myanmar court

By Charlotte Tobitt

Two Reuters reporters imprisoned in Myanmar have been given permission to appeal against a court’s verdict that they were guilty of breaching the country’s colonial-era Official Secrets Act.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were jailed for seven years in September after being found in possession of official documents.

The reporters, who were investigating violence against Rohingya Muslims at the time of their arrest in December last year, have always denied the charges and contend they were framed by police.

Myanmar’s High Court has now allowed an appeal against the conviction to proceed, the defence lawyers for Lone and Soe Oo told Reuters.

The appeal was lodged earlier this month and cites evidence of a police set-up and lack of proof of a crime.

Defence lawyer L. Khun Ring Pan confirmed the case had been accepted, telling Reuters: “We hope that the High Court will finally provide justice for Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo and declare them innocent.”

An appeal judge will ask prosecution and defence lawyers for written and oral arguments before making a decision.

Speaking after the appeal was given permission to proceed, Reuters president and editor-in-chief Stephen Adler told CNN that the trial had been a “complete sham” and continued to call for the pair to be pardoned.

“What we really want to happen is for there to be a pardon which is really in the hands of Aung San Suu Kyi because a pardon can happen immediately and we just want to get these wonderful journalists out,” he said.

“They’ve been in prison for almost a year. They’re entirely innocent. Every single observer of that trial recognised that it was a complete sham and a total setup.

“These were people who were just reporting, just doing their jobs, and we just want to see them out.”

Suu Kyi has faced calls to pardon the reporters from the international community, including United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres who said it was “not acceptable” they had been jailed for doing their job.

UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and US Vice President Mike Pence have also raised the case.

In her only public statement on the subject, Suu Kyi said in September: “They were not jailed because they were journalists, they were jailed because… the court has decided that they have broken the Official Secrets Act.”

Picture: Reuters/Ann Wang

Topics in this article :

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly dose of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how Progressive Media Investments may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network