IPI welcomes release of Reuters journalists in Myanmar
The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors, media executives and journalists for press freedom, welcomes the release of Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo from the prison and urged Myanmar to ensure that their convictions are fully expunged. Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, spent over 500 days […]
Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo gesture as they walk to Insein prison gate after being freed, after receiving a presidential pardon in Yangon, Myanmar, May 7, 2019.
PHOTO: Reuters/Ann Wang
The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors, media executives and journalists for press freedom, welcomes the release of Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo from the prison and urged Myanmar to ensure that their convictions are fully expunged.
Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, spent over 500 days in prison on the charges of violating the Official Secrets Act. They were sentenced to seven years imprisonment in September. Last month, Myanmar’s Supreme Court upheld the verdict on appeal. The two journalists were released under a presidential amnesty granted to some 6,500 prisoners to mark the traditional New Year festivities that began last month. “The release of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo is a welcome move by the government of Myanmar, coming after months of international criticism”, IPI Director of Advocacy Ravi R. Prasad said. (IPI)