Myanmar court rejects jailed Reuters reporters’ appeal
Yangon: A court here on Friday rejected an appeal by two jailed Reuters journalists who were sentenced to seven years on charges of violating a colonial-era Act.
A High Court of Yangon judge rejected the appeal saying that the defence team could not present sufficient evidence to prove the innocence of the two, reports Efe news.
Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were convicted by a lower court in September for illegally obtaining state secrets related to the Rohingya crisis in Rakhine state.
The defence can now appeal to the Supreme Court, based in the capital Naypyitaw.
The journalists were working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in a village in the state.
The killings were part of a military operation Myanmar launched last year against the Rohingya following a series of attacks by Rohingya rebels on government posts in the region.
The offensive, which has been condemned worldwide for its human rights abuses, has been described as ethnic cleansing by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and led to the exodus of 700,000 Rohingyas to neighbouring Bangladesh, where they have been living in overcrowded camps.
According to Doctors Without Borders, at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed during the offensive in Rakhine.