Skip to main content

Reuters reporters accused under Official Secrets Act due in Myanmar court

Yangon : Reuters journalist Kyaw Soe Oo, in handcuffs, talks as he leaves court Wednesday, Jan.10, 2018, outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
Two Reuters journalists detained in Myanmar are due to appear in court on Tuesday, when a judge could review a bail request for the pair accused of violating the country’s colonial-era Official Secrets Act. Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, had worked on Reuters coverage of a crisis in Rakhine state, where an army crackdown on insurgents since the end of August has triggered the flight of 688,000 Rohingya Muslims, according to the United Nations.
The reporters were detained on Dec. 12 after they had been invited to meet police officers over dinner in the country’s largest city, Yangon. “There will be an argument for bail from both the defence lawyers and prosecutors,” said Khin Maung Zaw, a lawyer representing the two journalists.
The prosecution has previously objected to the bail application.
The court would then hear evidence from the first police witness, who would be cross-examined by defence lawyers, Khin Maung Zaw said.
The Ministry of Information has cited police as saying the two journalists were “arrested for possessing important and secret government documents related to Rakhine State and security forces”. It has said they “illegally acquired information with the intention to share it with foreign media”.
Reuters journalist Thet Oo Maung Maung, known as Wa Lone, is escorted by police uon his arrival at court Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018, outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

Reuters President and Editor-In-Chief Stephen J. Adler has said the court’s decision to pursue charges was “a wholly unwarranted, blatant attack on press freedom”.
The pair last appeared in court on Jan. 10, when prosecutors sought charges against them under the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. The reporters have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some documents at a restaurant by two policemen they had not met before.
Government officials from some of the world’s major nations, including the United States, Britain and Canada, as well as top UN officials, have called for the reporters to be freed.
Former US President Bill Clinton has called for the immediate release of the journalists.
The two journalists were accused under Section 3.1 (c) of the Official Secrets Act, which dates back to 1923 when Myanmar, then known as Burma, was a province of British India.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meryl Streep wants to trademark her own name

Meryl Streep has won three Oscars, three Emmys and six Golden Globes during her 40-year long career on stage, screen and television. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP, File) Meryl Streep, the most celebrated actress of her generation, has filed an application to trademark her name. The application was filed with US Patent and Trademark Office on January 22, records show. It requests that the name Meryl Streep be trademarked for “entertainment services,” movie appearances, speaking engagements and autographs. Streep, 68, last week extended her record to 21 Academy Award nominations, this time for her role in “The Post.” She has won three Oscars, three Emmys and six Golden Globes during her 40-year long career on stage, screen and television. It is not clear why Streep would file a trademark application at this stage in her career and her attorney and publicist did not return a request for comment on Monday. Many celebrities trademark their names or catch phrases to pro...
Post a Comment
Read more

Beijing’s struggle against pollution will be tough, take time: Mayor

Beijing’s battle against air pollution will take time and be very tough to win despite recent improvements, the acting mayor of China’s capital said on Wednesday. The city has been fighting to clean its notoriously smoggy air through steps such as pushing households and factories to switch away from coal to cleaner fuels like natural gas. “Further improvement in air quality (will be) extremely difficult,” acting mayor of Beijing, Chen Jining, said in a statement released during the city’s congress meeting. The central government’s intense focus on air quality means many local officials’ careers are linked to the success of efforts to tackle smog, making it unusual to speak candidly about the challenges of meeting tough targets. Beijing has chalked up a short-term success by cutting the annual average level of breathable particulate matter (PM 2.5) to 58 micrograms per cubic metre in 2017, beating a target set by the State Council in 2012. However, the city is still some way f...
Post a Comment
Read more

US slaps anti-dumping duty on polyester staple fiber from China, India

United States Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. (source: Wikimedia commons) The Trump Administration has slapped anti-dumping duties on stainless steel flangs and finer denier polyester staple fiber from China and India. Exporters from China and India received countervailing subsidies of 41.73 to 47.55 per cent and 9.50 to 25.28 percent, respectively, the US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross alleged Wednesday. As such he has instructed US Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers of fine denier polyester staple fiber from China and India based on these final rates. “The US will no longer sit back and watch as its domestic businesses are destroyed by unfair foreign government subsidies. We will continue to take action on behalf of US industry to defend American businesses, workers, and communities adversely impacted by unfair imports,” Ross was quoted as saying by PTI. In 2016, imports of fine denier polyester staple fiber from China and India were ...
Post a Comment
Read more