{"id":1267,"date":"2017-12-14T01:23:49","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T01:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/?p=1267"},"modified":"2017-12-14T01:23:49","modified_gmt":"2017-12-14T01:23:49","slug":"reuters-journalists-arrested-in-myanmar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/2017\/12\/14\/reuters-journalists-arrested-in-myanmar\/","title":{"rendered":"Reuters journalists arrested in myanmar"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"hide-on-mobile\">\n<header class=\"content__head tonal__head tonal__head--tone-news\n\n    \"><\/p>\n<div class=\"content__header tonal__header\">\n<div class=\"gs-container\">\n<div class=\"content__main-column u-cf\">\n<h1 class=\"content__headline\">Two Reuters journalists arrested in Myanmar<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tonal__standfirst u-cf\">\n<div class=\"gs-container\">\n<div class=\"content__main-column\">\n<div class=\"content__standfirst\">\n<p>News agency says arrests are attack on press freedom and US embassy says it is deeply concerned<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content__main tonal__main tonal__main--tone-news\">\n<div class=\"gs-container\">\n<div class=\"content__main-column content__main-column--article js-content-main-column \">\n<div class=\"js-score\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"js-sport-tabs football-tabs content__mobile-full-width\"><\/div>\n<figure id=\"img-1\" class=\"media-primary media-content()  \">\n<div class=\"u-responsive-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"maxed responsive-img\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/f2772982d389595353d4942d13733bd94802c18e\/323_0_1913_1148\/master\/1913.jpg?w=300&amp;q=55&amp;auto=format&amp;usm=12&amp;fit=max&amp;s=a1427fccd4741df07f03d28632db5836\" alt=\"Reuters logo\" \/><\/div><figcaption class=\"caption caption--main caption--img\">\u00a0The Reuters logo at the news agency\u2019s London headquarters. Photograph: Luke Macgregor\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"content__meta-container js-content-meta js-football-meta u-cf\n\n    \"><\/p>\n<p class=\"byline\">Agence France-Presse in Yangon<\/p>\n<p class=\"content__dateline\">Wednesday 13 December 2017\u00a0<span class=\"content__dateline-time\">15.04\u00a0EST<\/span>Last modified on Wednesday 13 December 2017\u00a0<span class=\"content__dateline-time\">15.35\u00a0EST<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"meta__extras \">\n<div class=\"meta__social\">\n<ul class=\"social social--top js-social--top u-unstyled u-cf\">\n<li class=\"social__item social__item--facebook \"><\/li>\n<li class=\"social__item social__item--twitter \"><\/li>\n<li class=\"social__item social__item--email \"><\/li>\n<li class=\"js-social__secondary social__item social__item--more js-social__item--more\"><button class=\"meta-button social-tray__button\"><span class=\"u-h\">View more sharing options<\/span><\/button><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"meta__numbers\">\n<div class=\"meta__number js-sharecount\" title=\"Facebook: 40\">\n<h3 class=\"sharecount__heading\"><span class=\"sharecount__text u-h\">Shares<\/span><\/h3>\n<div class=\"sharecount__value sharecount__value--full\">40<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"u-h meta__number\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content__article-body from-content-api js-article__body\">\n<p>The news agency Reuters has said it is \u201coutraged\u201d by the arrest of two of its journalists in\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/myanmar\">Myanmar<\/a>\u00a0and accused officials of an attack against press freedoms.<\/p>\n<p>Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, were held under the Official Secrets Act, the government announced on Wednesday. It accused them of having documents related to unrest in Rakhine state, where a military crackdown has sent more than 620,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh.<\/p>\n<p>The US embassy in\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/myanmar\">Myanmar<\/a>\u00a0said it was \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d about the arrests and urged the government to allow access to the pair. \u201cFor a democracy to succeed, journalists need to be able to do their jobs freely,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"element element-rich-link element--thumbnail element-rich-link--upgraded\">\n<div class=\"rich-link tone-news--item \">\n<div class=\"rich-link__container\">\n<div class=\"rich-link__image-container u-responsive-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/ca0dfa13c4c5cb8cd2eb18e57dbf2011b0eb55f1\/0_83_780_468\/master\/780.jpg?w=460&amp;q=55&amp;auto=format&amp;usm=12&amp;fit=max&amp;s=8d0e4534e3367f95967c45ab082ee8f8\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-link__header\">\n<h1 class=\"rich-link__title\"><a class=\"rich-link__link\">Myanmar accused of wiping out secret network of Rohingya reporters<\/a><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-link__read-more\">\n<div class=\"rich-link__arrow\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-link__read-more-text\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/media\/reuters\">Reuters<\/a>\u00a0president and editor-in-chief, Stephen Adler, said: \u201cWe are outraged by this blatant attack on press freedom. We call for authorities to release them immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Burmese officials released a staged image of the two journalists wearing handcuffs with documents displayed before them.<\/p>\n<p>The information ministry said the pair were accused of intending \u201cto send important security documents regarding security forces in Rakhine state to foreign agencies abroad\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>They have been charged under a section of the Official Secrets Act that carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.<\/p>\n<p>The ministry said action would also be taken against two police officers who had recently returned from duty in northern Rakhine.<\/p>\n<p>Myanmar has been widely criticised over the army crackdown in Rakhine. Refugees have told of horrifying attacks, murder, rape and arson.<\/p>\n<p>The UN has said the army campaign probably amount to ethnic cleansing and has possible \u201celements of genocide\u201d \u2013 charges Myanmar vehemently denies.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities have banned journalists from independently travelling to northern Rakhine, the epicentre of the unrest.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"element element-rich-link element--thumbnail element-rich-link--upgraded\">\n<div class=\"rich-link tone-feature--item \">\n<div class=\"rich-link__container\">\n<div class=\"rich-link__image-container u-responsive-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/afa3c74b8c3b0e8daf9fcb015a005d0a28ba2667\/0_0_4928_2957\/master\/4928.jpg?w=460&amp;q=55&amp;auto=format&amp;usm=12&amp;fit=max&amp;s=ca85a835a3fbc4e652835290c0a500d6\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-link__header\">\n<h1 class=\"rich-link__title\"><a class=\"rich-link__link\">The traders cashing in on Rohingya misery: &#8216;It&#8217;s the best profit of my life&#8217;<\/a><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-link__read-more\">\n<div class=\"rich-link__arrow\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-link__read-more-text\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Since the Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi came to power in 2016 after decades of military rule, rights groups have expressed alarm about worsening freedom of expression.<\/p>\n<p>The number of online defamation cases has shot up, with a telecommunications law ensnaring online satirists, activists and journalists. A report by Free Expression Myanmar on Monday said every case that had made it to court so far had ended with a guilty verdict and a prison sentence.<\/p>\n<p>In one prominent case, the editor of the Myanmar Now news agency, Swe Win, was charged with insulting a Buddhist monk who had praised the killer of a Muslim government lawyer. The trial is still ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>In October, a Burmese journalist, two reporters from Malaysia and Singapore and their driver were arrested in the capital, Naypyidaw,\u00a0<a class=\"u-underline\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=3&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjFu_rA3YfYAhXEm-AKHeYwC4gQFgg0MAI&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2017%2Foct%2F29%2Fmyanamar-foreign-journalists-charged-flying-drone-parliament&amp;usg=AOvVaw2UvgEOfkQeVfiO1fVO-jhy\">for flying a drone over parliament<\/a>. They were sentenced to two months in prison while awaiting additional charges.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two Reuters journalists arrested in Myanmar News agency says arrests are attack on press freedom and US embassy says it is deeply concerned \u00a0The Reuters logo at the news agency\u2019s London headquarters. Photograph: Luke Macgregor\/Reuters Agence France-Presse in Yangon Wednesday 13 December 2017\u00a015.04\u00a0ESTLast modified on Wednesday 13 December 2017\u00a015.35\u00a0EST View more sharing options Shares 40 The news agency Reuters has&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/2017\/12\/14\/reuters-journalists-arrested-in-myanmar\/\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1267"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1268,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1267\/revisions\/1268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}