US Vice President Mike Pence is calling on Myanmar to immediately release two journalists who were sentenced to seven years in jail on charges of possessing state secrets in connection with their reporting on massacres against Rohingya Muslims.
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo from the Reuters news agency were sentenced Monday in proceedings that were widely decried as unfair. They had reported about the army's brutal counterinsurgency campaign that drove 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh. The subject is sensitive in Myanmar because of worldwide condemnation of the military's human rights abuses, which it denies.
Wa Lone & Kyaw Soe Oo shd be commended—not imprisoned—for their work exposing human rights violations & mass killings. Freedom of religion & freedom of the press are essential to a strong democracy. We call on the Gov’t of Burma to reverse this ruling & release them immediately.
— Vice President Mike Pence Archived (@VP45) September 4, 2018
Mr Pence tweeted the two should be "commended — not imprisoned — for their work exposing human rights violations & mass killings".
He said: "Freedom of religion & freedom of the press are essential to a strong democracy."
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Read more:
Wives of Reuters reporters jailed in Myanmar call for their release
Dozens of Myanmar civil society groups condemn conviction of Reuters reporters
The Myanmar journalists risking their lives to report on the Rohingya’s plight
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