Thursday, December 28, 2017

Two Reuters reporters appear in court, remanded for another 14 days



December 27, 2017

Two Reuters journalists who have been detained in Myanmar for the past two weeks appeared in court yesterday and were remanded in custody for a further two weeks.

“They will be remanded in custody at the Insein Prison for further probe. The current period is for taking time to probe into the allegations, the step before taking charges,” said Judge U Ohn Myint of the Mingaladon Township Court.
The judge granted the 14-day extension in the case of the journalists, Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, at the request of the police. Their attorney said the journalists were only performing their duties as reporters.
“The file opened for the two journalists should not be under the official secrets act because they do their job as journalists,” U Than Zaw Aung, the lawyer for the Reuters journalists.
The two Reuters journalists were arrested on 12 December in Yangon for illegally obtaining and possessing government documents, according to the Myanmar Police Force (MPF). Two policemen allegedly involved in the case were also arrested, said the MPF.
“Wa Lone, also known as Thet Oo Maung Maung, and Kyaw Soe Oo, also known as Moe Aung, with the Yangon-based Reuters News Agency, were arrested for possessing important and secret government documents related to Rakhine State and security forces (with the intent) to send them to a foreign news agency,” said the news release from the MPF.
The two journalists obtained the documents by deception from the two policemen, who came back from Rakhine State after serving security duties in Maungtaw and Buthidaung in Rakhine State, said the MPF.
The two journalists have been charged under the Official Secrets Act.
When they appeared at the Mingaladon court for the proceedings, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were allowed to meet their families and their lawyers but Wa Lone maintained his innocence.
“We will face it the best we can because we have never done anything wrong,” Wa Lone said after yesterday’s hearing.
Zaw Gyi
Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar

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