Burma releases Reuters journalists jailed for reporting on Rohingya
Two prizewinning Reuters journalists were released from a Burmese prison on Tuesday morning after spending more than 500 days behind bars for reporting on the country’s brutal crackdown on its Muslim Rohingya minority.
Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, smiled and waved at their supporters as they walked out of the gates of Yangon’s Insein prison carrying two small bags.
Their unexpected release, during a mass prisoner amnesty, followed international condemnation over their conviction, which had raised serious questions about Burma’s transition to democracy and had tainted the reputation of Aung San Suu Kyi, the former human rights icon who now leads the country.
Speaking briefly to reporters outside the prison, Wa Lone thanked all those who had lobbied for their freedom, and said “I am very happy to see my family and my colleagues. I can’t wait to go to my newsroom."
The two men were swiftly transported to their relieved young families. Pictures soon emerged of an overjoyed Wa Lone hugging Thet Htar Angel, his nine-month-old daughter, who he had only seen a handful of times on her visits to prison.
Moe Thin Wai Zan, the three-year-old daughter of Kyaw Soe Oo, greeted her father with delighted laughter. The little girl had reportedly danced when she was told he was free.
The reporters’ wives had repeatedly appealed for their release after they were sentenced to seven years under a colonial-era Official Secrets Act for receiving documents from a police officer.
The two men denied any wrongdoing, and during their lengthy trial a key prosecution witness admitted that their arrests were a setup.
The men had been investigating the extrajudicial murder of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys at the village of Inn Din in northern Rakhine State, for which seven Burmese soldiers were later sentenced to ten years of hard labour.
The incident took place during the height of a merciless military operation against the Rohingya minority that prompted more than 700,000 people to flee their homes to neighbouring Bangladesh to escape arson, rape and murder.
The report the two men authored, featuring testimony from perpetrators, witnesses and families of the victims, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in May, adding to a number of accolades received by the pair for their journalism.
They were named by Time magazine as its “Person of the Year” alongside other journalists last year.
“Today is the day we expected,” said Chit Su Win, the wife of Kyaw Soe Oo, in remarks reported by the New York Times. “Now, they can receive the Pulitzer Prize themselves,” she said, thanking the government for letting them go free.
“I don’t hold any grudge. I really thank to government. It’s time for a reunion for our families,” she added.
The reporters’ wives had written to the government in April after Burma’s supreme court rejected their final appeal. They stressed that their husbands had not done anything wrong but they pleaded for them to be allowed to be reunited with their young families.
During their extended time in jail, the two journalists had come to symbolise an erosion of democracy and press freedoms under the leadership of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was once feted by the international community as a fearless defender of civil rights.
After her release from house arrest under a ruling military junta, hopes had been pinned on her democratically elected civilian government to improve freedom of expression and end the arbitrary detention of government critics.
However, Aung San Suu Kyi herself long resisted international pressure to intervene in the case and free the journalists, including from Mike Pence the US vice president, and Jeremy Hunt, the British foreign secretary.
Mr Hunt, who raised the matter with Ms Suu Kyi last September said on Tuesday that he was “extremely grateful she has listened to me and many others and responded to a clear miscarriage of justice.”
He added: “In a world where media freedom is under attack, this is a rare glimmer of hope.”
But human rights groups, while welcoming the release of the reporters, pointed out that they should never have been jailed in the first place, and cautioned that the fight to uphold media freedom in Burma continued.
“The crisis is not over for the literally dozens of other Burmese journalists and bloggers who are still facing baseless criminal charges for their reporting about the Tatmadaw [armed forces] or NLD [National League for Democracy] government officials,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch.
“Myanmar’s faltering respect for media freedom indicates the dire situation facing human rights and democracy as the country moves toward national elections in 2020."
Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International’s East and Southeast Asia director, added that “the reality is the country retains a range of repressive laws used to detain journalists, activists and any perceived critic of the authorities.
“Until these laws are repealed, journalists and activists remain under a permanent threat of detention and arrest,” he said.
The Burmese authorities said that the reporters had been released along with over 6,000 other prisoners as part of a customary mass amnesty linked to the traditional New Year holiday, which began on April 17.
Steve Adler, the Reuters editor-in-chief, was among the first to welcome the men’s release, saying that he was “enormously pleased” that Burma had freed “our courageous reporters.”
He added: “Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. Since their arrests 511 days ago, they have become symbols of the importance of press freedom around the world. We welcome their return.”
Amal Clooney, who last year joined the legal team representing the two men said she hoped the positive outcome would signal a renewed commitment to press freedom in Burma, and praised Reuters for its “incredible determination” in defending their reporters.
“It is inspiring to see a news organisation so committed to the protection of innocent men and the profession of journalism,” she said in a statement.