Wives of Reuters Reporters Jailed in Myanmar Call for Their Release

 

The wives of two news reporters jailed in Myanmar said on Tuesday the men were innocent and called for them to be released.

A court found the reporters guilty on Monday of violating the country’s Official Secrets Act. They were sentenced to seven years in prison.

Their case is seen as a test of progress toward democracy in Myanmar, which was ruled by a group of military officers until 2011. The country is also called Burma.

Wa Lone¹, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, work for the Reuters news agency. They were investigating the killing² of villagers from the Rohingya Muslim minority by security forces when they were arrested in December 2017. The reporters told a court they were not guilty of the charges.

The wives and defense³ lawyers spoke⁴ at a press conference in Yangon on Tuesday.

Kyaw Soe Oo’s wife, Chit Su Win, said she had expected the court to clear the charges against the two men on Monday.

“I believed that we would be able to go home together,” she said, adding that the men were doing their jobs and are innocent.

Wa Lone’s wife, Pan Ei Mon, said she wanted the reporters to be released “as quickly as possible.”

She said that she was sad that Myanmar’s government leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, seemed to speak against the reporters before the ruling.

Aung San Suu Kyi told Japanese television station NHK in June that the two men were not arrested for their reporting, but because they violated “the Official Secrets Act.”

Neither the Nobel Peace Prize winner nor her government’s main spokesman have spoken about the case since the jail sentence was announced.

Many Myanmar news organizations and more than 20 civil society groups denounced the court’s ruling. They said the conviction was an attack on the right to freedom of information.

The privately⁵ owned 7 Day Daily is one of Myanmar’s most popular newspapers. Its front was all black with words that read “A sad day for Myanmar.”

The newspaper said the sentences “end the hope that the current government will value and respect media freedom.” It added that the government had earned a reputation for media suppression, as former military governments had done.

The paper said everyone needs to know “that democracy will not survive in an information dark age.”

Myanmar barred media interference by the government in 2012. It was part of reforms by a quasi-civilian government that led to elections in 2015. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, The National League for Democracy, won the vote.

An editor of the Irrawaddy online news website said Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint had to understand that the case was about the people’s right to know.

The editor, Kyaw Zwa Moe, said, “These Reuters reporters were simply doing their jobs by attempting to gather information so as to uncover the truth.”

The privately owned Myanmar Times showed a large picture of Kyaw Soe Oo, wearing handcuffs as he left the court. It said the conviction was a “blow to press freedom.”

The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported the conviction. It did not criticize the decision, but said the defense could appeal.

The conviction comes as the United Nations said the killing of Rohingya in August 2017 was carried out by Myanmar’s military. A U.N. report called for top generals to be tried. Myanmar rejected the report’s findings.

U.N. agencies have said more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled into Bangladesh since August of last year.

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

conviction –n.the act of proving that a person is guilty of a crime in a court of law

reputation – n. the common opinion that people have about someone or something

quasi- – combining form in some way or sense but not in a true, direct, or complete

editor – n. a person whose job is to edit something or oversee⁶ the language of something

handcuffs – n. a set of two metal rings that are joined together and placed around a person's wrists

1 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

6 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。