Reuters journalists in Myanmar appeal to Supreme Court against conviction

Reuters - Lawyers for two Reuters reporters jailed for seven years in Myanmar lodged an appeal on Friday (February 1) at the Supreme Court against their conviction on charges of breaking the Official Secrets Act. The appeal cited evidence of a police set-up and lack of proof of a crime. Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were convicted by a lower court in September in a landmark case that has raised questions about Myanmar's progress towards democracy and sparked an outcry from diplomats and human rights advocates. Before their arrest, the reporters had been working on a Reuters 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. Last month, the Yangon-based high court rejected an initial appeal lodged by the defence against the convictions, saying the reporters had behaved in a way that showed they intended to harm the country.