YANGON: Myanmar’s Supreme Court will deliver its ruling on Tuesday on the appeal of two Reuters journalists imprisoned for breaking a colonial-era official secrets law, the court said on Saturday.
Than Zaw Aung, a member of the legal team representing the journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, confirmed the date, saying the team and family members of the men would be travelling to the capital Nay Pyi Taw, about 370 kilometres north of Yangon, to attend.
“We have done our best in appealing to the Supreme Court. We are hoping for the best possible result. We hope the court will decide to release Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo,” he said.
The pair were arrested in December 2017 while investigating the extrajudicial killings of 10 Rohingya Muslims by security forces in Rakhine State.
Despite claiming entrapment, supported by a police witness who has since faced persecution, the two men were found guilty last September by a district court of violating the Official Secrets Act and sentenced to seven years in prison. The Yangon High Court rejected an earlier appeal in January.
They were among the Reuters staff who won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for their investigation of the execution-style slayings.
The pair also were among the journalists chosen by Time magazine as its persons of the year for 2018.