Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested in Yangon in December 2017. They were found guilty in September of breaching the Official Secrets Act and sentenced to seven years in prison.

Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, left, discussed the case of two imprisoned Reuters reporters with Vice President Mike Pence, right, in Singapore on Wednesday.

Pence met Suu Kyi on the sidelines of an Asia summit in Singapore.

“He raised the case of two Reuters journalists in particular and raised the request that a pardon could be made,” a senior White House official told reporters on condition of anonymity. “They had a very candid exchange of views on that.”

The White House official said Pence urged Suu Kyi directly to pardon the Reuters journalists “multiple times.”

The official declined to comment on Suu Kyi’s response in the closed-door meeting.

Two @Reuters journalists have been imprisoned in Myanmar since Dec. 12, 2017. See our full coverage: https://t.co/nfSZ28f5yF pic.twitter.com/OvMlSkDCqO — Reuters Top News (@Reuters) November 14, 2018

Lawyers for the two Reuters reporters have lodged an appeal against their conviction.

At the time of their arrest in December, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were working on a Reuters investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim villagers during an army crackdown in Rakhine state. </s> YANGON, Myanmar – Two Reuters journalists who were imprisoned for breaking Myanmar’s Official Secrets Act over reporting on security forces’ abuses of Rohingya Muslims were pardoned and released Tuesday, the prison chief and witnesses said.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were freed after President Win Myint issued a blanket pardon for 6,520 prisoners, said Zaw Zaw, chief of Yangon’s Insein Prison.

Myanmar’s Supreme Court on April 23 rejected the journalists’ final appeal against their seven-year prison terms. Their convictions were related to reporting on security forces’ abuses of the Muslim Rohingya minority. The reporters and their supporters had said they were framed because of official displeasure over their reporting.

“We are enormously pleased that Myanmar has released our courageous reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo,” said a statement issued by Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen Adler. “Since their arrests 511 days ago, they have become symbols of the importance of press freedom around the world. We welcome their return.”

Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, last month shared with their Reuters colleagues the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, one of journalism’s highest honors.

Myanmar’s military launched a brutal counterinsurgency campaign in the western state of Rakhine in 2017, driving more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.

The Reuters reporters had worked on an investigation of the killings of 10 Rohingya villagers in Inn Din village, for which the government last year said seven soldiers were sentenced to up 10 years in prison with hard labor.

The reporters were arrested in December 2017 and sentenced last September after being accused of illegally possessing official documents, a violation of the colonial-era Official Secrets Act.

Family members of the two freed men were elated.

Chit Su Win, the wife of Kyaw Soe Oo, said she was waiting at home with their child to be reunited with her husband.

She said she doesn’t know how to express her feelings, but “Now the three of us can hug each other and we are so happy for that.”

Thura Aung, the brother of Wa Lone said, “We’re so happy that they got released today. We heard that they would be on the amnesty list. Now it is actually happening, I am so glad for that.”

The United Nations office in Myanmar said it welcomed the release of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo.

“The U.N. in Myanmar considers the release of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo a step toward improving the freedom of the press and a sign of Government’s commitment to Myanmar’s transition to democracy,” it said in an emailed statement. </s> U.S. Vice President Mike Pence criticised Myanmar's military for the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in a meeting with the country's leader on Wednesday.

Pence also told Aung San Suu Kyi he was keen to hear that those responsible for the violence would be held accountable.

'The violence and persecution by military and vigilantes that resulted in driving 700,000 Rohingya to Bangladesh is without excuse,' he told Suu Kyi at the Asia-Pacific summit in Singapore.

'I am anxious to hear the progress that you are making of holding those accountable who are responsible for the violence that displaced so many hundreds of thousands and created such suffering, including the loss of life,' he added.

He said Washington was also keen to hear about progress in making it possible for the Rohingya to voluntarily return to the western Myanmar state of Rakhine from vast refugees camps in southern Bangladesh where they now live.

The United States has accused the military of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya, a Muslim minority who are widely reviled in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

U.N.-mandated investigators have accused the military of unleashing a campaign of killings, rape and arson with 'genocidal intent'.

Myanmar says its operations in Rakhine were a legitimate response to attacks on security forces by Rohingya insurgents in August last year.

Suu Kyi, responding to Pence, said: 'Of course people have different points of view but the point is that you should exchange these views and try to understand each other better.'

'In a way we can say that we understand our country better than any other country does and I'm sure you will say the same of yours, that you understand your country better than anybody else,' she added.

Amnesty International this week withdrew its most prestigious human rights prize from Suu Kyi, accusing her of perpetuating human rights abuses by not speaking out about violence against the Rohingya.

Once hailed as a champion in the fight for democracy, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner has been stripped of a series of international honours over the Rohingya exodus.

Pence also said that Washington wanted to see a free and democratic press in Myanmar, and the jailing of two journalists last year was 'deeply troubling' for millions of Americans.

'In America, we believe in our democratic institutions and ideals, including a free and independent press,' he said.

He did not mention by name Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters journalists who were arrested in Yangon in December 2017. They were found guilty in September of breaching the Official Secrets Act and sentenced to seven years in prison.

On Nov. 5, lawyers for the two Reuters reporters lodged an appeal against their conviction.

At the time of their arrest in December, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were working on a Reuters investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim villagers during an army crackdown in Rakhine state. Reuters published its investigation into the massacre on Feb. 8. </s> YANGON (Reuters) - Two Reuters journalists jailed in Myanmar after they were convicted of breaking the Official Secrets Act walked free from prison on Tuesday after more than 500 days behind bars.

Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, had been convicted in September and sentenced to seven years in jail in a case that raised questions about Myanmar’s progress towards democracy and sparked an outcry from diplomats and human rights advocates.

They were released under a presidential amnesty for 6,520 prisoners. President Win Myint has pardoned thousands of other prisoners in mass amnesties since last month.

It is customary in Myanmar for authorities to free prisoners across the country around the time of the traditional New Year, which began on April 17.

Reuters has said the two men did not commit any crime and had called for their release.

Swamped by media and well-wishers as they walked through the gates of Insein Prison, on the outskirts of Yangon, a grinning Wa Lone gave a thumbs up and said he was grateful for the international efforts to secure their freedom.

“I’m really happy and excited to see my family and my colleagues. I can’t wait to go to my newsroom,” he said.

Kyaw Soe Oo smiled and waved to reporters.

The two were then driven away by Reuters colleagues and reunited with their wives and children.

Before their arrest in December 2017, they had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys by security forces and Buddhist civilians in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State during an army crackdown that began in August 2017.

The operation sent more than 730,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh, according to U.N. estimates.

The report the two men authored, featuring testimony from perpetrators, witnesses and families of the victims, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in May, adding to a number of accolades received by the pair for their journalism. (reut.rs/2KFTSgQ) (reut.rs/2M5benE)

Government spokesman Zaw Htay said the decision to release the two was made after the families wrote to government leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

“We took the letters into consideration and released them in the interest of the country,” Zaw Htay told reporters.

Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler welcomed the news.

“We are enormously pleased that Myanmar has released our courageous reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. Since their arrests 511 days ago, they have become symbols of the importance of press freedom around the world. We welcome their return,” Adler said.

Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo celebrate with their children after being freed from prison, after receiving a presidential pardon in Yangon, Myanmar, May 7, 2019. REUTERS/Ann Wang/Pool

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was relieved to learn of the release, a spokesman said. The United Nations in Myanmar said it saw the release as a sign of the government’s commitment to the transition to democracy.

The U.S. Embassy also welcomed the release and said it was glad the two could return to their families.

‘DIALOGUE WORKS’

Myanmar’s Supreme Court had rejected the journalists’ final appeal in April. They had petitioned the top court, citing evidence of a police set-up and lack of proof of a crime, after the Yangon High Court dismissed an earlier appeal in January.

The reporters’ wives wrote a letter to the government in April pleading for a pardon, not, they said, because their husbands had done anything wrong, but because it would allow them to be released from prison and reunited with their families.

The Reuters journalists were released at the prison to representatives of Reuters and to Lord Ara Darzi, a British surgeon and health care expert who has served as a member of an advisory group to Myanmar’s government on reforms in Rakhine State.

“This outcome shows that dialogue works, even in the most difficult of circumstances,” Darzi said in a statement.

Darzi said discussions about the pardon for Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo had involved the Myanmar government, Reuters, the United Nations and representatives of other governments.

He said the government, led by Nobel laureate Suu Kyi, could only consider releasing the pair after the Supreme Court had rejected their final appeal.

Slideshow (24 Images)

“I’m very grateful to the president, the state counselor (Suu Kyi) and also the cabinet, for making that happen.”

Darzi has been a member of an advisory commission that was formed in 2016 to see through the advice from a panel headed by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan on solving the long-running conflict in Rakhine. </s> Two Reuters journalists imprisoned in Myanmar for reporting on a military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims have been released after spending more than 500 days behind bars.

Reporters Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, walked free Tuesday morning after a presidential pardon, according to Reuters.

A post on the news agency’s Twitter account shows the Burmese journalists leaving Yangon’s infamous Insein Prison.

The two men were arrested in December 2017 and later sentenced to seven years in prison for possessing “state secrets” in what was widely believed to be a set-up.

The journalists had been reporting on violence in the country’s western Rakhine State, where Myanamr’s state security forces have been accused of ethnic cleansing and possible genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Reuters’ investigation, published in February 2018, documented the slaughter and mass burial of 10 Rohingya men in the village of Inn Din.

Their case caused international outrage and brought heavy criticism to the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate who leads Myanmar’s civilian government.

In late April, Myanmar’s Supreme Court rejected the final appeal to release the men and decided to uphold their prison sentences.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were recently recognized as co-winners of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting, and along with several other journalists, they were named as TIME’s Person of the Year in 2018. </s> Two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested in December 2017 and accused of breaking Official Secrets Act for reporting on Rohingya crisis.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo walked free from a prison on the outskirts of Yangon on Tuesday after spending more than 500 days behind bars, Reuters reports citing witnesses.

Prison chief has reportedly confirmed that the two journalists have been freed, according to AP.

Earlier the president's office said in a statement that Myanmar would release 6,520 prisoners in an amnesty on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

President Win Myint pardoned thousands of prisoners in two mass amnesties last month.

It is customary in Myanmar for authorities to free prisoners around the time of the traditional New Year, which began on 17 April, Reuters report says.

The two reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo had been convicted in September and sentenced to seven years in jail.

Before their arrest in December 2017, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys by security forces and Buddhist civilians in western Myanmar's Rakhine State during an army crackdown that began in August 2017, Reuters report says. </s> The government of Myanmar on Tuesday released two Reuters journalists who were imprisoned for more than a year amid an international outcry over press freedom.

Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, had been jailed since late 2017 over allegations that they received documents containing state secrets from a police officer. The government accused the pair of violating Myanmar’s Official Secrets Act, but press freedom advocates accused officials of drumming up charges in retribution for their reporting on the crackdown of the Rohingya minority group.

“I’m really happy and excited to see my family and my colleagues. I can’t wait to go to my newsroom,” Wa Lone said outside of Insein Prison in Yangon, according to a report from Reuters.

The journalists’ release is a striking development in a case that has attracted international attention. Myanmar’s Supreme Court rejected their appeal at the end of last month and said they would have to continue serving their seven-year prison term.

At the time of their arrests, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo had been investigating the massacre of 10 Rohingya Muslims in the country, which was reportedly carried out by Myanmar troops and Buddhist villagers. Their story on the event was published by Reuters in February 2018 while they remained in jail.

Reuters ultimately won a 2019 Pulitzer Prize for its work covering the mass expulsion of the Rohingya, and both Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were recognized for their notable contributions to the stories. The pair were also recognized as Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” alongside others in the media last year.

Myanmar has drawn international condemnation for its treatment of the Rohingya, who had mostly resided in the country’s Rakhine state. Hundreds of thousands of people were violently forced from their homes and ultimately settled in neighboring Bangladesh. The U.S. House of Representatives declared the event a genocide last December, and the United Nations Human Rights Council has called for a tribunal to prosecute those responsible for any violence.

The event has also recast the political career of Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate who was released from house arrest in 2010 and later become Myanmar’s de facto head of state. Many had championed her ascension, saying it would lead to a more Democratic process in the country after decades of military rule.

But after the treatment of the Rohingya and the imprisonment of many journalists, Aung San Suu Kyi has instead been accused of quashing any dissension against her leadership.

This article has been updated with more details on the Reuters journalists and their coverage. </s> Two Reuters journalists arrested in Myanmar while investigating a massacre of Rohingya Muslims have been found guilty of breaching the country’s Official Secrets Act and sentenced to seven years in prison.

Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, are being held in prison in Yangon after being arrested in December, in a landmark case that has prompted international outrage and been seen as a test of progress towards democracy in the south-east Asian country.

In his ruling, judge Ye Lwin said the men “tried many times to get their hands on secret documents and pass them to others. They did not behave like normal journalists.”

As he was led to a police van in handcuffs, Wa Lone said: “I have no fear. I have not done anything wrong … I believe in justice, democracy and freedom.” Kyaw Soe Oo hugged his wife while she was sobbing and held her until police took him away.

Reuters condemned the verdict as “a major step backwards” for Myanmar.

Myanmar: pleas for release of Reuters journalists mount Read more

“Today is a sad day for Myanmar, Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, and the press everywhere,” the Reuters’ editor-in-chief, Stephen J Adler, said in a statement. Adler called for Myanmar to review the decision urgently.

The defence lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said the verdict was “bad for our country” and that he would “take any option to get their immediate release”.

Press freedom advocates, the United Nations, the European Union and countries including the US, Canada and Australia had called for the men to be acquitted.

The journalists were looking into the deaths of 10 Rohingyaat the hands of soldiers and Buddhist villagers in Inn Din, a village in the north of Rakhine state. After being invited to a dinner by officers, they were detained.

Prosecutors accused the men of obtaining secret state documents, in breach of the Official Secrets Act. The journalists said they were framed by police who gave them the documents during the dinner, and that they were targeted for their reporting. Kyaw Soe Oo said that while being investigated he was deprived of sleep, forced to kneel for hours and had a black hood placed over his head.

One prosecution witness said under cross-examination that he had written the location of the arrest on his hand so he would not forget it while he was testifying. Another admitted that he burned his notes of the arrest.

Concerned by what was widely seen as a draconian attack by Myanmar authorities on the free press, dozens of journalists and activists marched in Yangon on Sunday in support of the men.

The verdict was condemned by human rights activists, the UN, the US and Britain.

Knut Ostby, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar, said he was disappointed by the court’s decision. “Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo should be allowed to return to their families and continue their work as journalists,” he said.

The US ambassador to Myanmar, Scot Marciel, said the decision was “deeply troubling”. Dan Chugg, Britain’s ambassador to Myanmar, said he was extremely disappointed by the verdict.

Brad Adams, the Asia director for Human Rights Watch, described the convictions as outrageous, adding: “These sentences mark a new low for press freedom and further backsliding on rights under Aung San Suu Kyi’s government.”

The verdict comes during a time of intense international scrutiny on Myanmar authorities following a damning UN report about the military’s treatment of the Rohingya, which it said amounted to ethnic cleansing. More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar to bordering Bangladesh over the past year after a campaign of violence by the military.

Last week, the UN said Myanmar army generals should be investigated and prosecuted for “gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law”. In the report, which was rejected by the Myanmar government, de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi was criticised for failing to support the Rohingya. </s> Reuters / Ann Wang | Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo gesture as they walk free outside Insein prison after receiving a presidential pardon in Yangon, Myanmar, on May 7, 2019.

Two Reuters journalists jailed in Myanmar after they were convicted of breaking the Official Secrets Act walked free from a prison on the outskirts of Yangon on Tuesday after spending more than 500 days behind bars, witnesses said.

The two reporters, Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, had been convicted in September and sentenced to seven years in jail, in a case that raised questions about Myanmar's progress toward democracy and sparked an outcry from diplomats and human rights advocates.

President Win Myint has pardoned thousands of other prisoners in mass amnesties since last month.

It is customary in Myanmar for authorities to free prisoners across the country around the time of the traditional New Year, which began on April 17.

Reuters has said the two men did not commit any crime and had called for their release.

Swamped by media and well wishers as they walked through the gates of Insein Prison, on the outskirts of the commercial capital of Yangon, a grinning Wa Lone gave a thumbs up and said he was grateful for the international efforts to secure their freedom.

"I'm really happy and excited to see my family and my colleagues. I can't wait to go to my newsroom."

Before their arrest in December 2017, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys by security forces and Buddhist civilians in western Myanmar's Rakhine State during an army crackdown that began in August 2017.

The operation sent more than 730,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh, according to U.N. estimates.

The report the two men authored, featuring testimony from perpetrators, witnesses and families of the victims, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in May, adding to a number of accolades received by the pair for their journalism.

Calls to a spokesman for the Myanmar government were not immediately answered.

Myanmar's Supreme Court had rejected the journalists' final appeal in April.

They had petitioned the country's top court, citing evidence of a police set-up and lack of proof of a crime, after the Yangon High Court dismissed an earlier appeal in January.

The reporters' wives wrote a letter to the government in April pleading for a pardon, not, they said, because their husbands had done anything wrong, but because it would allow them to be released from prison and reunited with their families.

The Reuters journalists were released at the prison to Lord Ara Darzi, a British surgeon and health care expert who has served as a member of an advisory group to Myanmar’s government, and a Reuters representative.

Darzi waited for Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo at the gates of Insein prison on a street where a group of dozens of reporters and photographers expecting a release of prisoners were also waiting.

In a statement to Reuters, Darzi, 59, said the release of the two journalists came after “months of dialogue” with the government of Myanmar.

"I am delighted that the Reuters reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, have been granted a pardon, released from custody, and are with their loved ones once more. I know that it will come as a huge relief to their families, friends and colleagues,” Darzi said in the statement.

“This outcome shows that dialogue works, even in the most difficult of circumstances.”

Darzi said discussions about the pardon for Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo had involved the Myanmar government, Reuters, the United Nations and representatives of other governments but did not provide more detail on those closed-door talks.

Reuters had no immediate comment.

Darzi has been a member of an advisory commission that was formed to see through the advice from a panel headed by former UN chief Kofi Anan on solving the long-running conflict in Myanmar’s western region in the state of Rakhine.

Rakhine, on the Bay of Bengal, was the home to most Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

Hundreds of thousands fled to Bangladesh after a military-led crackdown on the region in 2017.

Senior Myanmar government officials, diplomats and some international representatives are meeting in Yangon to discuss Rakhine this week.

“The power of dialogue must be turned towards securing a lasting peace in Rakhine State and the return of the hundreds of thousands of refugees, whose desperate plight continues. This is essential if Myanmar is to build on today’s progress so that all its citizens can live together in dignity in the hope of a better tomorrow,” Darzi said in the statement.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence condemns Myanmar's treatment of Rohingya Muslims and called for Aung San Suu Kyi to pardon Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, the two Reuters journalists imprisoned in the country.