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Journalists Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, were detained on
Dec. 12. They had worked on Reuters coverage of a crisis in the
western state of Rakhine, where an estimated 655,000 Rohingya
Muslims have fled from a fierce military crackdown on militants.
The two are due to appear in court on Wednesday. It will be
their second appearance in court and the prosecutor could
request that charges are filed against them.
"We miss him and want him to be free," said Thant Zin Soe, among
a group of about a dozen of Wa Lone's friends who knelt beneath
the Sule Pagoda's towering golden stupa, hands clasped before
then, to chant a special Buddhist mantra.
"We believe that this mantra will set them free, that's why
we're reciting it."
In Myanmar, which is still in transition after almost half a
century of strict military rule, shows of support for
journalists and others who run afoul of the authorities are not
common.
Last week, a government spokesman, when asked about a campaign
of support for the two reporters on social media, said people
should not undertake such efforts while a case was being heard
in court.
Thant Zin Soe said he did not want to comment on the
circumstances of the reporters' arrest, except to say: "It's not
a good thing to hear that a reporter got arrested when he was
doing his job.
"We're marching towards democracy, it's not a good thing for the
democratization process."
(Reporting by Reuters Television; Writing by Robert Birsel;
Editing by Alex Richardson)
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