Myanmar court formally charges Reuters journalists

A Myanmar court on Monday formally charged two local Reuters journalists for illegally possessing official information under the Official Secrets Act, in a ruling that will see their case to go to a full trial.

"The judge announced that Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo gathered and collected and noted down official secrets with the intention to harm the state and government and to aid the persons in controversy to the government," one of the men's lawyers, Khin Maung Zaw, told reporters.

Both Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo plead not guilty to the charges.

Read more: Myanmar: Everything will change

The two reporters were arrested in the commercial hub of Yangon in December 2017 for allegedly possessing documents related to the ongoing crisis in Rakhine state, which they say they acquired from two policemen.

They had been reporting on the military crackdown in the northern Rakhine state, which has seen almost 700,000 Rohingya Muslims flee the Buddhist-majority country for bordering Bangladesh; an estimated 6,700 people have died in the conflict since August 2017.

Reporters maintain innocence

The two reporters maintain they were framed by police, a claim that has been supported by testimony from a whistleblower in the police department, Moe Yan Naing.

But after giving his testimony, Moe Yan Naing was jailed for violating the Police Disciplinary Act.

Read more: Myanmar Journalism Institute: "Democracy needs journalists!"

"We did not commit any crimes," Wa Lone said to journalists outside the courtroom. He said his response to the judge's decision was: "We won't ever give up. Today's court decision does not mean that we are guilty. We still have the right to a defense."

Court decision 'threatens fundamental freedoms'

The president and editor-in-chief of Reuters called for the release of its employees on Monday.

"We are deeply disappointed that the court declined to end this protracted and baseless proceeding against Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. These Reuters journalists were doing their jobs in an independent and impartial way, and there are no facts or evidence to suggest that they've done anything wrong or broken any law," Stephen J. Adler said.

Read more: Myanmar's Rohingya: A history of forced exoduses

The European Union also voiced support for the journalists, calling for the charges to be dropped and the immediate release of the reporters.

"The court decision today ... threatens fundamental freedoms, a free media and the public's right to information in Myanmar.

"The European Union expects the charges against the two journalists prosecuted for merely exercising their rights to freedom of expression and carrying out their jobs to be dropped and for them to be released immediately so they can be reunited with their families and resume their vital work."

law/msh (AP, dpa, Reuters)