Myanmar Activists Rally for the Release of two Reuters Journalists Serving 7 year Prison Sentence

Myanmar activists held a rally in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city on Wednesday, to mark the one-year anniversary of the detention of two Reuters journalists. Merely a day later, the United States House of Representatives demanded, in a nearly unanimous vote, for the journalists’ release.

The Reuters reporters, Wa Lone, 32 and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, are currently sentenced to seven years in jail for violating Myanmar’s Official Secrets Act. However, a letter, which was handed to Myanmar’s President, Win Myint, and written by the Myanmar Journalist Network detailed out why the journalists could not be found guilty for said violations.

“The Official Secret Act was prescribed in order to prevent espionage. In modern times, that act is no longer appropriate and needs to be reviewed,” read the letter featured on Reuters. “A sentence of seven years to each of the reporters is forbidding the media and denies the public’s right to access information,” the letter continues.

Lone and Soe Oo were arrested and thereafter jailed due to their reporting on a massacre of Rohingya Muslims by members of Myanmar’s military, reported CNN. The journalists appealed against their conviction, on the basis of lack of proof of a crime while simultaneously providing evidence of a police set-up.

In court, both reporters pleaded not guilty and argued they had been handed papers by Myanmar’s police shortly after their arrest. A police witness even testified in favor of the journalists’ claims that they had been set up. Given the circumstances, an appeal hearing will be held on Dec. 24.

A day after the activists conglomerated in Yangon, the United States House of Representatives called for the release of the journalists. House members voted 394 to 1 in favor of a resolution for the journalists’ to be set free, an article by Reuters reports. The sole “no” vote corresponds to Republican Representative Andy Biggs from Arizona.

Despite the measure being non-binding, the House Representatives’ decision acts as a strong message to the government of Myanmar on behalf of the United States.

The nearly unanimous vote also sustains members of the House consider the military’s campaign against the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority a genocide. These claims are backed up by a report published by United Nations investigators which states, “The crimes committed include murder, rape, torture, sexual slavery, persecution and enslavement.”

Myanmar’s military, however, continues to deny any accusations claiming the military campaign violated international humanitarian laws. Instead, spokesmen of the military claimed their actions were part of an anti-terrorism campaign. The government has yet to comment on the House of representatives vote, Reuters informed.