NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar, April 23, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Myanmar’s Supreme Court
rejected the latest appeal Tuesday by two Pulitzer-prize winning Reuters
journalists who were jailed for seven years on charges linked to their
reporting on the Rohingya crisis, as hopes now turn to a presidential pardon.
Reporters Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, have been behind bars since
their arrest in December 2017 under the Official Secrets Act.
They were convicted of possessing classified documents relating to
security operations in Rakhine during a brutal military crackdown against the
Rohingya that forced some 740,000 to flee over the border into Bangladesh.
The initial ruling in September was upheld by the Yangon High Court in
January.
On Tuesday, the reporters were not at the Supreme Court in the capital
Naypyidaw to hear the ruling that once again went against them.
Under Myanmar’s judicial system, the Reuters journalists could take their
appeal back to the Supreme Court judges twice more, but it is unclear whether
they will try this option or if they will pin all their hopes on a pardon.
“Our appeal was rejected,” Khin Maung Zaw told AFP. “They upheld the
ruling of the lower court.”
Supporters believe the pair were punished for investigating a massacre of
10 Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state in September 2017.
The story earned the team the Pulitzer, one of the top honours in
journalism.
Myanmar’s armed forces insist the brutal campaign in Rakhine was justified
as a means to root out Rohingya militants. But soldiers involved in the
massacre investigated by Reuters were jailed.
The case against the journalists has become a cause celebre for press
freedom.
Prominent rights attorney Amal Clooney joined the legal team, and Wa Lone
and Kyaw Soe Oo were featured on the cover of TIME magazine.
But despite global outcry the two remain in Yangon’s Insein prison.
Rights groups and legal experts say the case against the Reuters reporters
was riddled with irregularities.
A whistleblowing police officer testified during their trial that his
superior had ordered his team to trap the reporters in a sting — testimony
the judge chose to ignore.
Officer Moe Yan Naing was initially called as a prosecution witness before
breaking ranks in court.
“Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo did not commit any crime, nor was there any proof
that they did,” Reuters Chief Counsel Gail Gove said in a statement following
Tuesday’s ruling.
“Instead, they were victims of a police set-up to silence their truthful
reporting. We will continue to do all we can to free them as soon as
possible.”
Rights groups have urged Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to use
her influence to secure this, but she has so far refused to intervene in the
judicial process.
“The court decision is very disappointing — it’s a hopeless situation for
the two journalists and for freedom of speech,” said Maung Saungkha, founder
of local rights group Athan.
Rights group PEN America called Tuesday’s decision “devastating and
wrongful” in a tweet, adding that the campaign against the pair was a
“disgraceful attempt to intimidate Myanmar’s fledgeling free press”.