At the time of their arrest Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men

Two Reuters journalists who uncovered a massacre of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar have been charged for violating the Official Secrets Act.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were charged under the colonial-era 1923 act for allegedly illegally possessing state secrets in government documents and face up to 14 years in prison if convicted.

Reuters journalists covering Rohingya crisis charged under Official Secrets Act Read more

Before their arrest, the journalists were investigating the killing of 10 Rohingya men in the village of Inn Dinn in northern Rakhine state. Reuters published their report with accounts from villagers and security personnel in February.

The case has attracted global attention. Some western diplomats and rights groups say it is a test of progress towards full democracy under the administration of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in a country where the military still wields considerable influence.

Speaking outside the Yangon court on Monday, defence lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said he was “not satisfied” with the decision. When asked if this case represented “backsliding” press freedom in Myanmar he said: “If you say backsliding that would mean there has been an advance, but there has been no advance just a slippery slope.”

Judge Ye Lwin of Yangon’s northern district court handed down the decision this morning and the trial will now begin on 16 July.

The journalists were detained on 12 December when they met police officials at a restaurant and were handed documents allegedly linked to security operations in northern Rakhine state. More than 700,000 Rohingya refugees have fled from northern Rakhine to Bangladesh since attacks in August last year, which the UN called a “textbook example” of ethnic cleansing.

Khin Maung Zaw told the Guardian the journalists will plead not guilty and four witnesses will be heard in court for Wa Lone and two for Kyaw Soe Oo. He expects the trial to last two months at the most.

This case has been denounced as an attack on press freedom by diplomats, local media and human rights defenders.

“The authorities have turned to tactics long-favoured by past military juntas — locking up and prosecuting those exposing the truth,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.



Police captain Moe Yan Naing admitted in court that subordinates of police brigadier general Tin Ko Ko were ordered to “trap” the journalists by handing them the classified documents. However, requests for the case to be dismissed were rejected.

After the captain testified he was sentenced to one year in prison for violating the Police Discipline Act and his family were evicted from their police housing complex.

Since their arrest the journalists have been held in Insein prison. Monday’s hearing marks the end of the pre-trial phase which included nearly 30 trials over seven months. The Reuters pair will now formally go to trial.

After the journalists were arrested in December they did not have access to lawyers or their family for two weeks. The journalists’ lawyer said in a hearing on 11 June that they were deprived of sleep for three days during interrogation. Kyaw Sow Oo also told journalists after the hearing that he was forced to kneel during questioning.



The Myanmar government and military have repeatedly denied allegations of military abuses against the Rohingya, and access to northern Rakhine state is still restricted to independent investigators including UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee and the UN fact-finding mission.



In her final mission report Lee singled out reports that the journalists have been deprived of medical support and subjected to sleep deprivation which she stated is “in contravention of the prohibition against inhuman and degrading treatment and the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners”.



Journalists can visit the area only on government guided tours that handpick journalists and people they can interview on these trips.