British prime minister Theresa May says she is ‘disappointed’ at verdict which slaps 7-year prison sentence on each journalist
AMN / LONDON
The UNITED KINGDOM has called for the immediate release of two Reuters journalists imprisoned by a Myanmar court for reporting on the atrocities targeting Rohingya minority in the country.
“As our Ambassador to Burma (Myanmar), who attended the hearing, has said, we are extremely disappointed with this verdict and sentencing,” British Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokesman said Monday.
“And we call for the journalists to be released immediately. In any democracy, journalists must be free to carry out their jobs without fear or intimidation. This verdict has undermined freedom of the media in Myanmar,” he added.
A Myanmar court on Monday sentenced two Reuters news agency journalists to seven years in jail for investigation into the murder of Rohingya Muslim men by security officials.
Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, are charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison during the investigation into the murder of 10 Rohingya men in the western Rakhine state.
Judge Ye Lwin of Yangon’s Northern District Court said each journalist was handed a seven-year imprisonment as they were found guilty of obtaining and possessing classified documents which they possibly transferred to the insurgent groups that are fighting against the government.