Myanmar court postpones verdict for Reuters journalists in landmark case because judge was ill
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been in Myanmar’s Insein prison since December after being charged with violating a colonial-era state secrets act
Two Reuters journalists in Myanmar accused of breaking a state secrets law while investigating a massacre of Rohingya Muslims face another week of uncertainty after the verdict in their trial was delayed on Monday.
Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, have been detained in Myanmar’s infamous Insein prison since December in a case which has sparked a global outcry.
The reporters had been investigating the September 2017 killing of 10 Rohingya Muslims in conflict-scarred Rakhine state, a week after Myanmar’s military launched a sweeping crackdown on members of the stateless Muslim minority.
They were invited to dinner with police in Yangon, handed some documents, and then arrested as they left the meeting and accused of possessing classified material on operations in the area.
The pair were charged with violating the state secrets act, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years.
The expected ruling at the court in northern Yangon had drawn a crowd of diplomats, well-wishers and media, some wearing T-shirts with the words “Journalism is not a crime”.