Myanmar court rejects appeal by jailed
Reuters reporters
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[January 11, 2019]
By Shoon Naing and Antoni Slodkowski
YANGON (Reuters) - A Myanmar court on
Friday rejected the appeal of two Reuters reporters sentenced to seven
years in jail on charges of breaking the Official Secrets Act, saying
the defense had not provided sufficient evidence to show they were
innocent.
Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were convicted by a lower court in
September in a landmark case that has raised questions about Myanmar's
progress towards democracy and sparked an outcry from diplomats and
human rights advocates.
"It was a suitable punishment," said High Court Judge Aung Naing,
referring to the seven-year prison term meted out by the lower court.
The defense has the option of making a further appeal to the country's
supreme court, based in the capital Naypyitaw.
"Today's ruling is yet another injustice among many inflicted upon Wa
Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. They remain behind bars for one reason: those in
power sought to silence the truth," said Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen
J. Adler in a statement.
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"Reporting is not a crime, and until Myanmar rights this terrible wrong,
the press in Myanmar is not free, and Myanmar's commitment to rule of
law and democracy remains in doubt."
In their appeal arguments made last month, defense lawyers had cited
evidence of a police set-up and lack of proof of a crime. They told the
appeal court the lower court that tried the case had wrongly placed the
burden of proof on the defendants.
The defense also said prosecutors had failed to prove the reporters
gathered and collected secret information, sent information to an enemy
of Myanmar or that they had an intention to harm national security.
Khine Khine Soe, a legal officer representing the government, told the
appeal hearing last month that the evidence showed the reporters had
collected and kept confidential documents. She said they intended to
harm national security and the national interest.
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![](../images/011119pics/news_p22.jpg)
Detained Reuters journalists Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone are escorted by
police as they arrive before a court hearing in Yangon, Myanmar,
August 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ann Wang
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The judge said on Friday "it was not acceptable" to say that the
defendants had acted according to journalistic ethics. "It cannot be
said that it was a set up," he said.
Standing outside the court building in Yangon where the judgment was
pronounced, Kristian Schmidt, the EU ambassador to Myanmar, said the
ruling was a "miscarriage of justice and it gives us great concern
for the independence of the justice system of Myanmar".
Defense lawyer Than Zaw Aung, speaking after the ruling, said his
team would discuss the option of a supreme court appeal with the two
reporters. "We are very disappointed with the judgment," he said.
Before their arrest, the reporters had been working on a Reuters
investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys by
security forces and Buddhist civilians in western Myanmar's Rakhine
State during an army crackdown that began in August 2017.
The operation sent more than 730,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh,
according to United Nations' estimates.
(Reporting by Shoon Naing and Antoni Slodkowski, Editing by Alex
Richardson and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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