YANGON (Reuters) – At least 100 Myanmar youth activists and journalists called for the release of two jailed Reuters journalists on Sunday, warning that the seven-year prison terms handed to the pair this month threaten the public\u2019s right to information.
\nDemonstrators including high-school students gathered peacefully in the heart of Myanmar\u2019s largest city, Yangon, held signs and chanted slogans denouncing the guilty verdict against the two journalists. A small contingent of police looked on as the protesters released black balloons printed with the words \u201cFree Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo\u201d.<\/p>\n
Reporters Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were convicted on Sept. 3 under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act in a case that was seen as a test of democratic freedoms in Myanmar.<\/p>\n
Thar Lun Zaung Htet, a journalist involved in organizing the protest, said the verdict against reporters who were \u201cjust doing their job\u201d would stifle reporting in Myanmar.<\/p>\n
\u201cLosing press freedom means our democratic transition is going backwards,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The verdict drew calls from senior United Nations officials, political figures including U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and human rights advocates around the world for their immediate release.<\/p>\n
Government spokesman Zaw Htay could not be reached for comment on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The country\u2019s leader Aung San Suu Kyi said at a forum in Hanoi last week the case had nothing to do with freedom of expression. The reporters had been sentenced for handling official secrets and \u201cwere not jailed because they were journalists\u201d, the Nobel laureate said.<\/p>\n
On Friday six Myanmar journalist organizations published a rare statement from groups within the country criticizing the country\u2019s leader, saying they were \u201cdisappointed\u201d with her comments.<\/p>\n
The reporters, who pleaded not guilty, said they were handed rolled papers by police shortly before they were detained last December, and a police witness testified in court that they had been set up.<\/p>\n
The reporters had been investigating the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys by security forces and local Buddhists amid a military response to insurgent attacks last August.<\/p>\n
Some 700,000 Rohingya crossed from Myanmar into Bangladesh fleeing the crackdown, which U.N.-mandated investigators said last month was launched by senior Myanmar generals with \u201cgenocidal intent\u201d.<\/p>\n
Signs held by the protesters on Sunday included the messages \u201cMurder is not a state secret\u201d and \u201crevealing the truth is not a crime\u201d.<\/p>\n
One organizer, Maung Saung Kha, performed a short play where he put on a military jacket over the orange traditional Burmese jacket worn by lawmakers of Suu Kyi\u2019s National League for Democracy. He then rolled up a copy of the state-run daily The Mirror and began hitting members of the press with it.<\/p>\n
Activist Htet Khine Soe said the \u201cinjustice\u201d of the case against the reporters had led him to design a T-shirt with an illustration of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo\u2019s faces. The design was worn by some demonstrators and was also used on stickers placed around Yangon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to know what\u2019s happening in the world. We need journalists for that,\u201d he said. \u201cWithout that, we will be stupid people without ears and eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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