JAKARTA, Indonesia — Myanmar’s highest court ruled against two Reuters reporters on Tuesday, upholding their conviction for violating a state secrets law after they uncovered a military massacre.

The two reporters, U Wa Lone, 33, and U Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, were sentenced in September to seven years in prison under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act for receiving documents from a police officer. They have been imprisoned for 16 months, drawing international condemnation by human rights groups and media organizations.

Their defense lawyers argued that the evidence in the case was planted by the police and that the rolled-up papers they were handed contained information that was already public. The reporters testified at trial that they were arrested so quickly that they never had a chance to look at the documents.

“Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo did not commit any crime, nor was there any proof that they did,” Gail Gove, Reuters’ chief counsel, said after the Supreme Court ruling was announced. “Instead, they were victims of a police setup to silence their truthful reporting. We will continue to do all we can to free them as soon as possible.”