(This version of the May 9 story has been refiled to fix grammatical errors in paragraphs 9, 14)

Detained Police Captain Moe Yan Naing (C) escorted by police arrives for a court hearing in Yangon, Myanmar May 9, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer

By Shoon Naing and Thu Thu Aung

YANGON (Reuters) - A Myanmar policeman now serving a prison sentence gave more details to a court on Wednesday about how he says two Reuters reporters were framed by police, in what has become a landmark press freedom case for the Southeast Asian nation.

Police captain Moe Yan Naing, 47, who since his original testimony on April 20 has been sentenced to a year in jail for violating police discipline, gave a blow-by-blow account of how he says a police chief ordered subordinates to give “secret” documents to Reuters reporter Wa Lone in a sting operation.

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“I gave the testimony as I know and as I saw,” Moe Yan Naing told reporters after the hearing. He said he did not regret giving his testimony.

Lead prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung did not respond to a request for comment after the hearing.

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay said: “It will be carried out according to the law. The court is free, impartial, independent and reliable. We guarantee that the defendants will have their own rights, which means choosing their own lawyers etc.”

The court in Yangon has been holding hearings since January to decide whether Wa Lone 32, and his Reuters colleague Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, will be charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

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 an army crackdown that United Nations agencies say sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

DOCUMENT TRAP

In an account that closely followed his original testimony, but went into greater detail, Moe Yan Naing said that on Dec. 12 - hours before the reporters were arrested - he was among six officers who had previously been contacted by Wa Lone who were interrogated by the Police Special Branch.

The internal investigation was led by Police Brigadier General Tin Ko Ko, according to Moe Yan Naing.

When Tin Ko Ko found out that one of the six, Lance Corporal Naing Lin, had been in contact with Wa Lone but had not met him in person, he ordered Naing Lin to use his phone to arrange a meeting with Wa Lone that evening.

“I know that Police Brigadier General Tin Ko Ko instructed Police Lance Corporal Naing Lin to give Wa Lone documents related to our frontline activities in order to have him arrested,” Moe Yan Naing told Judge Ye Lwin, overseeing the proceedings.

Moe Yan Naing said Tin Ko Ko told the policemen involved that if they did not “get Wa Lone” they would be detained.

Reuters has been unable to contact Tin Ko Ko or Naing Lin for comment. A police spokesman said after Moe Yan Naing’s previous testimony that the brigadier general “has no reason to do such a thing”.

FAMILY EVICTED

Prosecutors had originally called Moe Yan Naing as a witness, but asked the court to declare him unreliable after his testimony appeared to undermine their case. The judge rejected that application last week.

Moe Yan Naing was brought to court in shackles and wearing a dark blue prison uniform, in contrast to his first appearance last month when he had worn his police captain’s uniform and was not handcuffed.

He said he had been convicted and sentenced in his absence and still did not know which court had handed down the punishment.

Moe Yan Naing has said he spoke to Wa Lone in late November about police operations in Rakhine. He said Wa Lone introduced himself as a reporter and interviewed Moe Yan Naing at a teashop inside the headquarters of the 8th Police Security Battalion.

Slideshow (7 Images)

Moe Yan Naing’s 42-year-old wife, Tu Tu, listened to proceedings from the side of the courtroom. Together with their three children, she was evicted from police housing in the capital Naypyitaw the day following Moe Yan Naing’s first testimony. The family have since moved in with Moe Yan Naing’s father in his native town of Khin U, in central Myanmar.

Police have said the eviction was unrelated to the reporters’ case, but that the family had been overdue to move out of their apartment.

Wa Lone told journalists after the hearing that Moe Yan Naing “bravely proved that in our society, there are people who adore the truth and justice”. </s> YANGON, Myanmar — A Myanmar police officer who testified that his colleagues helped frame two reporters being tried on charges of possessing state secrets said Wednesday his subsequent jailing was intended to intimidate any other officers thinking of telling the truth.

Police Capt. Moe Yan Naing had his hands shackled and was wearing blue prison clothing as he appeared in court for the second time. After he gave his surprise initial testimony last month, he was sentenced to a year in jail for violating the Police Disciplinary Act and his family was forced to vacate their police housing unit.

His testimony boosted hope that Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo would be acquitted of the charges, under which they could be imprisoned for 14 years. They had been covering the brutal counterinsurgency operation in Myanmar's Rakhine state that drove 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.

"Putting me in prison is meant to threaten other policemen who want to tell the truth," Moe Yan Naing told reporters on his way back to jail after testifying Wednesday. "No one should be jailed for telling the truth."

The prosecution had tried to have his testimony thrown out but the judge last week rejected the motion.

Moe Yan Naing was detained on Dec. 12 last year, the same day the journalists were arrested. His jail sentence was nominally for having spoken earlier without permission to Wa Lone about his duties in Rakhine. The subject is sensitive because the military's actions there have come under harsh criticism internationally, including charges that it was carrying out ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya.

In response to questioning by defense lawyer Than Zaw Aung, Moe Yan Naing said he and Wa Lone met at a teashop in his police force compound, and that Wa Lone didn't ask for any secret documents from him, and that other officers under his command also said they had not been asked for secret documents.

He also testified that the documents that police put in the hands of the two reporters covered past activities and were prepared by a police computer operator to entrap the reporters, to be handed over to them at the order of his superior, a police brigadier general.

"Today what Moe Yan Naing testified is how Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were trapped," the defense lawyer told reporters after the court session. "We are more hopeful."

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo both expressed appreciation for his testimony as they talked to reporters before being returned to Insein Prison.

"He is very brave and respects the law. So we are very happy for what he testified as I totally believe that it was truth," said Wa Lone. "And we hope for him and us that the truth and justice will be coming soon. I want to say that he bravely testified to show that there are people who love justice in our society." </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 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 Friday.

Reporters Wa Lone, 32 and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28 were detained in December after meeting police for dinner in Yangon and 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 September 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 widespread atrocities.

But it has admitted soldiers took part in a massacre of Rohingyas last September in Inn Din village, a murder spree that the Reuters reporters helped uncover. Seven soldiers were recently sentenced to 10-year prison terms for the killings.

Nonetheless the prosecution of the reporters has continued.

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 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.

Reuters president and editor-in-chief Stephen J. Adler said in a statement that the court had finally heard the truth and called for the journalists’ immediate release.

“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,” he said.

“This case cannot be squared with fairness or justice, and it’s time to bring it to an end.”

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 police officer who testified in court that two Reuters reporters had been framed said Wednesday that his jailing was intended to prevent others from speaking out.

Police Captain Moe Yan Naing appeared in a Yangon court along with reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo who have been detained under Myanmar's colonial-era Official Secrets Act since Dec. 12. </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 under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been detained since Dec. 12 on charges 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 neighbouring 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.

He 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.

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 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."

The case has drawn international attention, with high-profile rights lawyer Amal Clooney recently joining the legal team representing the jailed journalists. The United States, Britain and Canada, as well as the United Nations, have called for freedom for the reporters.

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

"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. We don't know."

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 defence 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.

"They will decide what is right," he said. </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> YANGON (Reuters) - A Myanmar police chief ordered officers to “trap” a Reuters reporter arrested in December, telling them to meet the journalist at a restaurant and give him “secret documents”, prosecution witness Police Captain Moe Yan Naing told a court on Friday.

Detained Reuters journalist Wa Lone is escorted by police before a court hearing in Yangon, Myanmar April 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ann Wang

Moe Yan Naing gave details to the court of the hours leading up to the Dec. 12 arrest of Wa Lone, 32, and Reuters colleague Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, who had accompanied him to the meeting, and said the police had arranged a “set up”.

The court in Yangon has been holding hearings since January to decide whether the pair will be charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

At the time of their arrest, they had been working on a Reuters investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in a village in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state, during an army crackdown that United Nations agencies say has sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

“This officer spoke based on his own feelings,” Police spokesman Colonel Myo Thu Soe told Reuters by phone after the hearing. He said Moe Yan Naing’s testimony “cannot be assumed as true - we still need to listen to the remaining witnesses so the situation will become clearer”.

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay said in a text message response, in English, to Reuters questions: “It’s in the court process now, we already assured to get the cover of the independent judiciary.”

Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, who is part of the team representing the Reuters reporters, said in a statement the prosecution should now drop the case or the judge should dismiss it.

In a statement after the hearing, Reuters President and Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler said: “Today the court 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. This case cannot be squared with fairness or justice, and it’s time to bring it to an end.”

“GET WA LONE”

In his testimony, the police captain said he had been interviewed in November by Wa Lone about police operations in Rakhine state. He was one of two officers from the paramilitary 8th Security Police Battalion who the police identified in December as “allegedly involved in the case”.

Moe Yan Naing said he had been under arrest since the night of Dec. 12, accused of violating the Police Disciplinary Act.

He said that earlier on the day the Reuters reporters were arrested he was picked up from his post in Yangon and taken to Battalion 8’s headquarters on the northern edges of the city.

When he arrived, he said he found himself among a group of several other Battalion 8 policemen who had given interviews to Wa Lone. They were interrogated by what he described as a police “information team” about their interactions with the Reuters reporter.

Moe Yan Naing told the court that police Brigadier General Tin Ko Ko, who led the internal probe, ordered police Lance Corporal Naing Lin to arrange a meeting with Wa Lone that night and hand over “secret documents from Battalion 8”.

“Police Brigadier General Tin Ko Ko gave the documents to Police Lance Corporal Naing Lin and told him to give them to Wa Lone and said that when Wa Lone comes out of the restaurant, the Htaunt Kyant regional police force has to entrap him and arrest him,” said Moe Yan Naing.

“Police Brigadier General Tin Ko Ko told the police members, ‘if you don’t get Wa Lone, you will go to jail’,” said Moe Yan Naing. He told the court he witnessed the exchange.

Moe Yan Naing said the police chief violated police ethics and “disgraced the union government and made the union government misunderstood by the international community”.

Tin Ko Ko has previously served as the police chief in Rakhine state and in a senior police post in the capital Naypyitaw, according to local media and the police spokesman. He is currently head of the No.2 security police command based in Yangon, which oversees security police battalions, said police spokesman Myo Thu Soe.

Asked about Moe Yan Naing’s account of Tin Ko Ko’s orders, the police spokesman said that the brigadier general “has no reason to do such a thing. A police brigadier general who is serving at Myanmar police force would not act irresponsibly.”

Myo Thu Soe declined to comment further on specific accusations Moe Yan Naing made during his testimony.

DINNER MEETING

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, having been invited to meet the officers for dinner.

Neither policeman has given testimony so far during the court proceedings.

Previous police witnesses have said the reporters were stopped and searched at a traffic checkpoint by officers who were unaware they were journalists, and were found to be holding documents relating to security force deployments in Rakhine.

After Moe Yan Naing gave his testimony, lead prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung filed a motion to have him declared a “hostile witness”, according to defence lawyer Khin Maung Zaw.

Slideshow (2 Images)

Khin Maung Zaw explained that if he declares the witness as “hostile” the judge would put less weight on his testimony. However, he added that “we can still use his testimony, along with the other information, testimony and pieces of evidence”.

The judge adjourned the proceedings until April 25.

The prosecutor did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. </s> Pol. Capt. Moe Yan Naing who was given a one-year prison term for violating the police disciplinary code said on May 9 at his court appearance, “Truth must not be imprisoned.”

Two Reuters reporters were produced before the court on their 17th hearing on May 9 in the morning at Yangon north district court and Pol. Capt. Moe Yan Naing was examined as a non-hostile prosecution witness.

Pol. Capt. Moe Yan Naing, wearing a convict’s uniform, handcuffs and shackles, said his sentence was intended to threaten any other police officers from telling the truth in the future.

Pol. Capt. Moe Yan Naing was sentenced to one-year imprisonment on April 30 for alleged violation of the police disciplinary code.

He was sentenced for giving an interview to two Reuters reporters, Walone and Kyaw Soe Oo, while he was on duty at No. 8 Police Security Force.

Pol. Capt. Moe Yan Naing said the two Reuters reporters had been set up in the case which was orchestrated by Pol. Brig. Tin Ko Ko.
Myanmar police captain Moe Yan Naing testifies in court for the second time during the trial of Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, which has become a landmark case of press freedom in the country. Naing accused his superior, police brigadier general Tin Ko Ko, of orchestrating a plot to entrap the journalists and threatening Naing and his colleagues with arrest if they did not "get Wa Lone". Naing was arrested for violating Myanmar's Police Disciplinary Act and sentenced to a one-year prison term prior to his testimony.