YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - The prosecution of two Myanmar journalists accused of violating a state secrets law by acquiring official documents given to them by police has suffered a setback after a police officer testified that he and his colleagues were ordered to entrap the reporters.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo of the Reuters news agency were arrested on Dec. 12 on charges that could get them up to 14 years in prison. The two had helped cover the crisis in Rakhine state, where an aggressive counterinsurgency operation drove about 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to neighboring Bangladesh.

Police Capt. Moe Yan Naing says a senior officer had arranged for two policemen to meet the reporters and hand over secret documents, and threatened that if they didn't arrest them, they would be jailed themselves.

Reuters journalist Wa Lone, center, thumbs up as he is escorted by police upon arrival at the court for trial in Yangon, Myanmar Friday, April 20, 2018. Myanmar court continues hearing on case against two Reuters journalists, arrested under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, for having restricted documents in their possession. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw) </s> Reuters journalists plead not guilty to Official Secrets Act charges in Myanmar court

A court in Myanmar has charged two jailed Reuters journalists with obtaining secret state documents, moving a landmark press freedom case into its trial stage after six months of preliminary hearings.

Yangon district judge Ye Lwin charged reporters Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, with breaching of the colonial-era Official Secret Act which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

The journalists pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The case has attracted global attention. Some Western diplomats and rights groups say it is a test of progress towards full democracy under the administration of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in a country where the military still wields considerable influence.

In his ruling on Monday, the judge said the court had filed charges against both reporters under section 3.1 (c) of the act to probe the prosecution's allegations that they collected and obtained secret documents pertaining to the security forces with the intention to harm national security.

Proceedings will now enter the trial phase, during which defence lawyers will summon witnesses before the judge, who will then deliver a verdict, according to legal experts.

Earlier this month, defence lawyers asked the judge to throw out the case, arguing the prosecution had failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the charges.

They said the journalists were arrested in a sting operation by the police that was aimed at interfering with their reporting.

At the same July 2 hearing, prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung urged the judge to charge the reporters.

He said documents they had in their hands when they were arrested detailed the movements of security forces, while further documents found on their mobile phones ranged from confidential to top secret.

Myanmar Government spokesman Zaw Htay has declined to comment throughout the proceedings, saying Myanmar courts are independent and the case would be conducted according to the law.

He did not immediately answer calls seeking comment after the court ruling on Monday.

At the time of their arrest in December, the reporters had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in a village in western Myanmar's Rakhine State.

The killings took place during a military crackdown that United Nations agencies say led to more than 700,000 Rohingya fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh.

The reporters have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some rolled up papers at a restaurant in northern Yangon by two policemen they had not met before.

In April, Police Captain Moe Yan Naing testified that a senior officer had ordered his subordinates to plant secret documents on Wa Lone to "trap" the reporter.

After his court appearance, Moe Yan Naing was sentenced to a year in jail for violating police discipline by having spoken to Wa Lone, and his family was evicted from police housing.

Police have said the eviction and his sentencing were not related to his testimony.

Writers, press freedom and human rights activists around the world have rallied on behalf of the imprisoned reporters, with the United Nations and several Western countries calling for their release. </s> A court in Myanmar on Monday convicted two Reuters journalists for breaching the country’s Official Secrets Act, 1923, and sentenced them to seven years in prison, reported AFP.

“The defendants...have breached Official Secrets Act section 3.1.c, and are sentenced to seven years,” Reuters quoted the judge as saying. “The time already served by the defendants from December 12 will be taken into consideration.”

On August 28, the court postponed the verdict in the case as the judge was not keeping well.

In July, a court charged Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo with breaching the colonial-era law that carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison. Both the journalists have been in jail since December. In April, the court refused to dismiss the case saying there was a “proper reason” for the charges against the journalists.

The journalists had been working on a Reuters investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state’s Inn Din village during an Army crackdown in 2017. The two were arrested after they were invited to meet police officers for dinner in the north of Yangon. The Ministry of Information said they had “illegally acquired information with the intention to share it with foreign media”.

The case has drawn widespread international attention, with the United States, Britain and Canada as well as the United Nations calling for the reporters to be freed. “Today is a sad day for Myanmar, Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, and press freedom anywhere,” said Reuters Editor-in-chief Stephen Adler, according to BBC. </s> YANGON, MYANMAR - A Myanmar police officer testified Friday that he and several colleagues were ordered to entrap two reporters working for the Reuters news agency, dealing a major blow to the government’s case against the journalists.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been detained since Dec. 12 on charges of violating the colonial-era Official Secrets Act that could get them up to 14 years in prison. The two helped cover the crisis in Myanmar's Rakhine state, where a brutal counterinsurgency operation last year drove about 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to neighboring Bangladesh.

Police Capt. Moe Yan Naing told the court that his superior had arranged for two policemen to meet the reporters at a restaurant and hand over documents described as “important secret papers” in order to entrap them.

Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, counsel for the two journalists and Reuters, called on the prosecution to drop the case immediately, and if not she said the district judge should dismiss it.

“It is now clear to any impartial observer that this case is a bungled attempt to entrap two innocent young men,” she said in a statement. “The U.S., U.K., Canada, the U.N. and the European Union have already demanded the journalists’ release, and further action may follow if the case is not resolved.”

Moe Yan Naing said he and other colleagues who had been interviewed earlier by Wa Lone about their activities in Rakhine had been interrogated under the direction of Brig. Gen. Tin Ko Ko of the 8th Security Police Battalion.

Reuters journalist Kyaw Soe Oo, center, is escorte Reuters journalist Kyaw Soe Oo, center, is escorted by police as they leave the court, April 4, 2018, Yangon, Myanmar. Reuters journalist Kyaw Soe Oo, center, is escorted by police as they leave the court, April 4, 2018, Yangon, Myanmar.

Security forces in Rakhine have been accused of serious human rights violations, including rape and extrajudicial killings, against the persecuted ethnic Rohingya Muslims. Last week, Myanmar’s military announced it had sentenced seven soldiers to 10 years in prison for their part in the killings, a case covered by the two reporters.

According to the police captain, Tin Ko Ko ordered an officer who had previously spoken to Wa Lone to arrange the Dec. 12 meeting, and threatened other police officers he sent to the meeting that if they did not carry out the arrests, they would be sent to jail themselves.

“The reason why I testified the truth was because police should have their own standard and dignity,” Moe Yan Naing told reporters outside the courtroom after testifying as a prosecution witness. “Whatever I testified was the truth.”

He was able to speak to the media only briefly before being led away by a plainclothes security official. He has been under arrest since Dec. 12, apparently for having spoken to Wa Lone the month before.

Reuters issued a statement after the hearing saying that the court had “finally heard the truth.”

“One of the prosecution’s own witnesses admitted that the police received orders to plant evidence and arrest Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo on false charges,” it said. “This case cannot be squared with fairness or justice, and it’s time to bring it to an end. We call for our journalists’ immediate release.”

Clooney said “silencing critics through false arrests and arbitrary detention flies in the face of Myanmar's professed dedication to the rule of law and free speech, and risks lasting damage to the country's reputation and economy.”

“But the truthful testimony of a brave witness is a step in the right direction,” she said in Friday’s statement.

Defense lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said: ``We cannot say exactly if the two journalists will be released or not, but police officer Moe Yan Naing has revealed the real case.''

“This is such a big risk for him for telling the truth,” Khin Maung Zaw said, expressing concern for his safety. “This is why you all journalists should watch closely over him because we don’t know what’s going to happen. We don’t even know if he is coming in to the next hearing with an injured face.”

Other prosecution witnesses have earlier offered confusing and conflicting testimony, lending weight to the belief that the arrests were a clumsy setup by the government, which is sensitive to any reporting critical of its activities in Rakhine.

However, the judge has denied defense motions to drop the case.

“We are very surprised that the truth has been revealed, and we thought since the beginning that this case was set up,” said Than Zaw Aung, another lawyer for the reporters. “We did not expect that the police would testify like that. But this testimony will be a very strong support for the defendants.”

Wa Lone reaffirmed his innocence to journalists as he was boarding a police truck to be taken back to jail.

“The truth is coming out. I believe that truth and justice is coming,” he shouted.

Government spokesman Zaw Htay said he would not comment on the proceedings because the judiciary is independent and the trial is ongoing. </s> The two reporters had pleaded not guilty and told the court police planted documents on them in the course of their work in reporting on Myanmar’s violence-plagued Rakhine State.

“The defendants ... have breached Official Secrets Act section 3.1.c, and are sentenced to seven years,” the judge said, adding that the time served since they were detained on 12 December last year would be taken into account. Their defence lawyers can appeal the decision to the regional court and then the supreme court.

Yangon northern district judge Ye Lwin said Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, breached the colonial-era Official Secrets Act when they collected and obtained confidential documents.

A Myanmar judge on Monday found two Reuters journalists guilty of breaching a law on state secrets and jailed them for seven years, in a landmark case seen as a test of progress towards democracy in the Southeast Asian country.

STRINGER / Reuters Reuters journalist Wa Lone leaves after listening to the verdict at Insein court in Yangon, Myanmar, September 3, 2018.

The reporters had told the court two police officials handed them papers at a restaurant in the city of Yangon moments before other officers arrested them.

“We will not wait while Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo suffer this injustice and will evaluate how to proceed in the coming days, including whether to seek relief in an international forum.”

“Today is a sad day for Myanmar, Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, and the press everywhere,” Reuters editor in chief Stephen Adler said in a statement.

Press freedom advocates, the United Nations, the European Union and countries including the United States, Canada and Australia had called for the journalists’ acquittal.

STRINGER / Reuters Chit Suu Win, wife of Reuters journalist Kyaw Soe Oo, reacts after listening to the the verdict at Insein court in Yangon, Myanmar September 3, 2018.

One police witness testified the restaurant meeting was a set-up to entrap the journalists to block or punish them for their reporting of a mass killing of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine.

At least 50 people were packed into the small court Monday, with many standing outside. Judge Ye Lwin read out a summary of witness testimony for about an hour before delivering his verdict.

He said that “confidential documents” found on the two would have been useful “to enemies of the state and terrorist organisations”. Documents in their possession and on their phones were “not public information”.

As the judge spoke, several reporters cried as they took notes.

Kyaw Soe Oo’s wife, Chit Su Win, burst into tears after the verdict, and family members had to support her as she left the court.

Wa Lone shook hands with supporters, telling them not to worry. Wearing handcuffs and flanked by police, he addressed a cluster of friends and reporters.

“We know what we did. We know we did nothing wrong. I have no fear. I believe in justice, democracy and freedom,” he said.

Kyaw Soe Oo also said the reporters had committed no crime and that they would maintain their fight for press freedom.

“What I want to say to the government is: you can put us in jail, but do not close the eyes and ears of the people,” he said.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo - who both have young daughters and have not seen their families outside of prison visits and court hearings for nearly nine months - were then taken back to prison.

Kyaw Soe Oo has a three-year-old daughter and Wa Lone’s wife, Pan Ei Mon, gave birth to their first child last month.

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay didn’t respond to requests for comment about the verdict. He has mostly declined to comment throughout the proceedings, saying the courts were independent and the case would be conducted according to the law.

The verdict comes amid mounting pressure on the government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi over a security crackdown sparked by attacks by Rohingya Muslim insurgents on security forces in August 2017.

More than 700,000 stateless Rohingya Muslims have fled across western Myanmar’s border with Bangladesh since then, according to UN agencies.

US ambassador Scot Marciel, who attended the hearing, said he was sad for the two reporters and for Myanmar.

“It’s deeply troubling ... one has to ask will this process increase or decrease the confidence the people of Myanmar have in their justice system,” Marciel told reporters.

UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar Knut Ostby, said he was disappointed.

“The United Nations has consistently called for the release of the Reuters journalists and urged the authorities to respect their right to pursue freedom of expression and information.”

British ambassador Dan Chugg, speaking on behalf of EU members, said the verdict had “dealt a hammer blow for the rule of law”.

The reporters were arrested on Dec. 12 while investigating the killing of 10 Rohingya men and boys and other abuses involving soldiers and police in Inn Din, a village in Rakhine State.

Myanmar has denied allegations of atrocities made by refugees against its security forces, saying it conducted a legitimate counterinsurgency operation against Muslim militants.

But the military acknowledged the killing of the 10 Rohingya at Inn Din after arresting the Reuters reporters.

A UN mandated fact-finding mission said last week that Myanmar’s military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Muslim Rohingya with “genocidal intent” and called for top generals to be prosecuted. Myanmar rejected the findings.

The International Criminal Court is considering whether it has jurisdiction over events in Rakhine, while the United States, the European Union and Canada have sanctioned Myanmarmilitary and police officers over the crackdown. </s> YANGON (Reuters) - Two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, have been detained in Myanmar since Dec. 12, 2017. At the time of their arrests, they had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in a village in Rakhine state.

After six months of pre-trial hearings, a court is set to decide on Monday whether or not to charge the reporters under the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

The following are key events in the case:

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are arrested in Yangon after being invited to meet police over dinner.

The government says they face charges under the Official Secrets Act.

Myanmar’s military says it has discovered a mass grave in the village of Inn Din, in western Rakhine state.

The reporters appear in court and are remanded to custody. Their families say the pair told them they were arrested almost immediately after being handed documents by the policemen they met for the first time the night of their arrest.

Pre-trial hearings begin, with prosecutors seeking charges against the journalists under the Official Secrets Act.

On the same day, the military says its soldiers murdered 10 captured Muslims, whose bodies were those discovered by security forces in the mass grave in Rakhine, during insurgent attacks.

A police witness, Major Min Thant, says under cross-examination that information in the documents the reporters were holding in their hands at the time of their arrest had already been published in newspaper reports.

Reuters publishes the investigation that the reporters had been working on. It describes how security forces and local Rakhine Buddhists were involved in the killing of the 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys buried in the mass grave at Inn Din.

Myanmar says action will be taken against members of its security forces in connection with the killings at Inn Din, but says it is not related to the Reuters report.

The United States urges the U.N. to hold Myanmar’s military accountable for “ethnic cleansing” and reiterates demands for the reporters’ release.

Lawyers for Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo ask the court to throw out the case, saying there is insufficient evidence to support charges against the pair.

Prominent human rights lawyer Amal Clooney joins the legal team representing the two Reuters reporters. “Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are being prosecuted simply because they reported the news,” Clooney said in a statement.

Prosecution witness Police Captain Moe Yan Naing tells the court that a police brigadier general had given orders to entrap Wa Lone by giving him “secret documents” and then arresting him. Prosecutors later argued that Moe Yan Naing should be declared an unreliable witness, but the judge rejected the request.

Moe Yan Naing is sentenced to a year in prison for violating Myanmar’s Police Disciplinary Act by talking to Wa Lone.

Police Lance Corporal Naing Lin, the officer Moe Yan Naing said was ordered to entrap Wa Lone, tells the court he met the reporters, but denies giving them documents.

A senior police officer denies during cross-examination by defense lawyers that the reporters were subjected to sleep deprivation and asked if they were “spies” during interrogations. Afterwards, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo confirm details of their treatment, saying they were questioned every two hours by different officers for about three days.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers deliver final arguments in the pre-trial phase of the case. </s> YANGON (AFP) - A Myanmar police chief ordered officers to set up a Reuters reporter by handing over sensitive documents to him in a sting operation that also ensnared his colleague, a police official told a court on Friday (April 20).

Reporters Wa Lone, 32 and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28 were detained in December 2017 after meeting police for dinner in Yangon. They were accused of violating the country's Official Secrets Act for possessing material relating to operations in conflict-hit Rakhine state.

They were arrested while investigating a Sept 2 massacre of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine, but their report was published while they were behind bars.

Myanmar has been accused of waging an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya after some 700,000 fled to Bangladesh following a brutal military crackdown on insurgents in August.

The military has denied allegations that the armed forces committed atrocities with the exception of the September massacre in Inn Din village for which seven soldiers were sentenced to 10-year prison terms.

For months now, a Yangon court has been hearing testimony to decide whether the Reuters journalists will go to trial even as global criticism of the case has rained down on Myanmar and prominent rights attorney Amal Clooney joined the legal team.

Deputy police major Moe Yan Naing said in his appearance on Friday that he had been questioned about meeting Wa Lone in November and that his superior then set up a sting in which he told others to pass on sensitive security documents.

"Police Brigadier Tin Ko Ko asked Htauk Kyant (township) police members to arrest Wa Lone after Lance Corporal Naing Lin handed the documents to Wa Lone when they left," he said, describing orders to "get" the reporter.

Kyaw Soe Oo accompanied Wa Lone to the restaurant meeting and was also arrested.

Yangon police officials could not be reached for comment.

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay said in response to questions about the testimony that the case is ongoing and a judge will decide.

Moe Yan Naing said he was angry that his name had been mentioned in the aftermath of the sting as someone who was under scrutiny. He is facing charges of breaching police regulations and was brought to the hearing from detention.

The prosecution argued that he should be declared a hostile witness as his testimony differed from what he had told police investigators, but the Reuters defence team praised his remarks as genuine.

"He answered all this by taking risk for himself," lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said.

A judge will hear arguments about the motion next week.

In brief comments to AFP as he arrived at the court in the morning, Moe Yan Naing said he was "going to tell the whole truth" in his appearance.

Myanmar lifted many restrictions on the press as it emerged from five decades of military rule in 2011 but critics have accused Aung San Suu Kyi's new government of backsliding on previous reforms and failing to protect free expression. </s> A Myanmar judge on Monday charged two Reuters journalists with violating the country’s colonial-era secrets act over their coverage of the Rohingya crisis. The two will now go to trial in what has been a closely-watched test of press freedoms in the country, drawing condemnation from foreign governments and press watchdogs.

Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were charged with breaking the country’s Official Secrets Act, an offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison. They were arrested in December and accused of obtaining secret documents while reporting on the killing of 10 Rohingya boys and men in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state.

Judge U Ye Lwin, who has been presiding over the trial, said the men have been charged for “getting, collecting and transferring secret documents regarding operations of the [Myanmar] police force.”

The charging decision means the case against them will now be brought to trial, dragging out the case for several more weeks. It could be months before a ruling is reached on whether they will be sentenced, and for how long. The two journalists entered a plea of not guilty.

“If the judge wanted to, he could drop the charges, as one of the major witnesses testified that the journalists were entrapped,” said Khin Maung Zaw, the lawyer for the men. “But since he made his decision, we are going to defend that they acted ethically to uncover unlawful acts in Rakhine state.”

Zaw Htay, spokesman for the Myanmar government, did not respond to request for comment Monday. He said previously in responses to The Post that the court would make its decision according to “the rule of law” and that the government has assured that the pair will be able to defend themselves in fair court hearings.

Stephen Adler, the editor in chief and president of Reuters, said, “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. ... Today’s decision casts serious doubt on Myanmar’s commitment to press freedom and the rule of law.”

Lawyers for the pair say that Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were entrapped by police officers, broke no laws and were simply doing their jobs as reporters. The two journalists were invited by police officers to a meeting Dec. 12 at a restaurant in Yangon, where they were handed papers that allegedly linked security forces to an attack on Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state.

The journalists say they were then almost immediately arrested by police, who held them incommunicado for two weeks and accused them of “illegally obtaining” confidential documents.

Central to the defense’s arguments is police Capt. Moe Yan Naing, who testified in court that he was ordered to “trap” one of the two journalists by handing them the documents as a pretext for arrest. The officer has since been sentenced to a year in prison for violating the police force’s disciplinary code, and his family was evicted from their home in what the government said was an unrelated matter.

Media organizations and the international community see the closely watched case — packed with contradictions, conflicting accounts by police officers and absurd moments — as a litmus test for press freedom in Myanmar. During the course of the court proceedings, a police witness testified that he burnt his notes after the journailsts were arrested.

As the judge made his ruling, family and friends of the pair looked almost resigned to the news, having watched their loved ones shuttling back and forth, handcuffed and flanked by police officers, for almost seven months. Before he was dragged away by officers, Kyaw Soe Oo exchanged words with his daughter, a toddler, who had been waiting behind barbed wires before the court hearing started to catch a glimpse of her father.

Wa Lone has become known for his resilience and optimism during the course of the proceedings, photographed with a signature two thumbs up gesture flashed to cameras and reporters as he enters the Yangon court.

Speaking after the court session, Wa Lone said that the men were investigating human rights violations committed in Rakhine state — their jobs as reporters.

“We did nothing wrong and nothing unethical,” he said.

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news </s> YANGON — The prosecution of two Myanmar journalists accused of violating a state secrets law by acquiring official documents given to them by police has suffered a setback after a police officer testified that he and his colleagues were ordered to entrap the reporters.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo of the Reuters news agency were arrested on Dec. 12 on charges that could get them up to 14 years in prison.

The two had helped cover the crisis in Rakhine state, where an aggressive counterinsurgency operation drove about 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to neighboring Bangladesh.

Police Capt. Moe Yan Naing says a senior officer had arranged for two policemen to meet the reporters and hand over secret documents, and threatened that if they didn’t arrest them, they would be jailed themselves.
A Myanmar police captain testifies in court that he and his colleagues were ordered by their superiors to entrap two Reuters journalists, who were arrested on 12 December 2017 for "possessing state secrets" under a colonial-era law. The journalists had been working on a report documenting the massacre at Inn Din.