Reuters reporters arrested in Myanmar brought to court; bail decision likely

[snoop1130]

Reuters reporters arrested in Myanmar brought to court; bail decision likely

 

Detained Reuters journalist Wa Lone is escorted by police during a break at a court hearing in Yangon, Myanmar February 1, 2018. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

 

YANGON (Reuters) - Two Reuters journalists accused of violating Myanmar's colonial-era Official Secrets Act were brought to a district court on Thursday where, according to a defence lawyer, the judge is due to rule on a bail request.

 

The prosecution is also scheduled to present at least one more witness at the hearing in the Insein District Court of Yangon, Myanmar's main city.

 

The two journalists - Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27 - had worked on Reuters coverage of a crisis in Rakhine state, where an army crackdown on insurgents since the end of August has triggered the flight of 688,000 Rohingya Muslims, according to the United Nations.

 

The reporters were detained on Dec. 12 after they had been invited to meet police officers over dinner in Yangon. They have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some documents at a restaurant by two officers they had not met before.

 

The two reporters were smiling as they were brought handcuffed to the court and Wa Lone gave the "thumbs up" sign.

 

Diplomats from the U.S., British, Canadian, Norwegian, Swedish, French and Danish embassies were present as well as United Nations and EU officials.

 

At the last court proceedings on Jan. 23, the first witness presented by the prosecution, Police Lieutenant Colonel Yu Naing, said he was told the reporters were arrested while they were walking along a road carrying four official documents that included a listing of forces and weapons of a police battalion in the Maungdaw district of Rakhine state.

 

Yu Naing repeatedly told the court "I don't know", when asked about the circumstances of the arrest because it was only reported to him by subordinates. He could not point to evidence that the defendants were acting for the enemy or hostile forces, defence lawyer Khin Maung Zaw told reporters after the hearing.

 

The prosecution has 24 other witnesses in the case, more than half of whom are police officers, Khin Maung Zaw has said. Another police witness was likely to be called on Thursday, he said.

 

A ruling on an application for bail will also be announced at the hearing, Khin Maung Zaw said.

 

The prosecution has previously objected to the bail application.

 

Reuters repeated its calls for the pair's prompt release in a statement after the last hearing.

 

"They are innocent of any wrongdoing and should be allowed to return to their jobs reporting on events in Myanmar," the news agency said.

 

"MANY INCONSISTENCIES"

 

The Danish embassy in Myanmar said its officers attended the previous hearing, where "many inconsistencies in the material put before the court to substantiate the charges were revealed".

 

"We once again urge the immediate release of the two journalists," the embassy said in a statement on Thursday.

 

In a Twitter message, the Committee to Protect Journalists also reiterated its demand that the two reporters be set free.

 

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are being tried under the Official Secrets Act, which dates back to 1923 - when Myanmar, then known as Burma, was under British rule - and carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

 

They have been accused under Section 3.1 (c) of the act, which covers entering prohibited places, and taking images or obtaining secret official documents that "might be or is intended to be, directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy".

 

Government officials from some of the world's major nations, including the United States, Britain and Canada, as well as top U.N. officials, have called for the reporters to be freed.

 

Veteran U.S. politician Bill Richardson said last week that Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi's response was "furious" when he brought up the case in a meeting with her.

 

Richardson quit an international panel advising the Myanmar government on the Rohingya crisis, saying it was conducting a "whitewash" and accusing Suu Kyi of lacking "moral leadership".

 

Suu Kyi's office said her government had asked Richardson to step down and accused him of pursuing "his own agenda".

 

A statement from the nine remaining members of the advisory board said they met last week "with open minds" and rejected Richardson's criticism that he feared the panel would be used as "a cheerleading squad".

 

(Reporting by Myanmar bureau; Writing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-2-1

[snoop1130]

Reuters reporters arrested in Myanmar refused bail

By Shoon Naing and Simon Lewis

 

Detained Reuters journalist Kyaw Soe Oo is escorted by police after a court hearing in Yangon, Myanmar February 1, 2018. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

 

YANGON (Reuters) - A district court in Myanmar rejected bail on Thursday for two Reuters journalists accused of violating the country's colonial-era Official Secrets Act.

 

In proceedings, a lawyer for the two journalists told the court that documents police said were found in their possession when they were arrested contained information that was publicly available in newspaper reports.

 

Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, had worked on Reuters coverage of a crisis in Rakhine state, where an army crackdown on insurgents that started on Aug. 25 has triggered the flight of nearly 690,000 Rohingya Muslims to neighbouring Bangladesh, according to the United Nations.

 

The reporters were detained on Dec. 12 after they had been invited to meet police officers over dinner in Yangon. They have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some documents at a restaurant by two officers they had not met before.

 

Reuters President and Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler expressed disappointment that the reporters were denied bail and called for their prompt release.

 

"It has now been more than fifty days since they were arrested, and they should have the opportunity to be with their families as the hearings continue," he said in a statement.

 

"We believe the court proceedings will demonstrate their innocence and Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo will be able to return to their jobs reporting on events in Myanmar."

 

Police Major Min Thant, one of the arresting officers, on Thursday submitted what he said were secret documents seized from the two reporters to the district court in Yangon that is hearing the case.

 

In response, Than Zaw Aung, a lawyer for the defence, submitted copies of several newspaper articles that he said showed the information in the documents was already public.

 

"They are filing the lawsuit saying these are secret things but I want to show this is not secret and the public already knew those things," Than Zaw Aung told the court.

 

The court rejected the defence's application for bail. Reading from the Official Secrets Act, Judge Ye Lwin said the alleged offence was "non-bailable", without elaborating further.

 

DIFFERENT LOCATIONS

 

At the last hearing on Jan. 23, another police officer had said he was told the reporters were arrested while they were walking along a road holding in their hands four official documents that included a listing of forces and weapons of a police battalion in the Maungdaw district of Rakhine state.

 

They were also found to have a report on an attack by Rohingya insurgents on a police outpost and a sketch of a map showing the post, as well as a copy of a report on the status of Rohingya villages following the military crackdown, according to a police document read out in court.

 

"After Aug. 25, the government explained to the media and diplomats about what happened in Maungdaw," Than Zaw Aung said, arguing such information had already been published in newspaper reports.

 

Under cross-examination, police officer Min Thant also said that the location of the arrest in his testimony and the location in the case file were "slightly different".

 

Min Thant said the reporters were arrested at a crossing in northern Yangon. But he said he changed the location of the arrest in the case file to outside the restaurant where the reporters say they had the meal with police officers because Kyaw Soe Oo, one of the two, had otherwise refused to sign a form recording the arrest and search.

 

PACKED COURT

 

The two reporters were smiling and appeared in good spirits as they were brought handcuffed to the court from Yangon's notorious Insein prison on Thursday. Wa Lone gave the "thumbs up" sign and Kyaw Soe Oo hugged his young daughter.

 

During a break in court proceedings, their families were allowed to spend some time with them.

 

The courtroom was packed with reporters and diplomats from the U.S., British, Canadian, Norwegian, Swedish, French and Danish embassies as well as United Nations and European Union officials.

 

The Danish embassy in Myanmar said its officers attended the previous hearing, where "many inconsistencies in the material put before the court to substantiate the charges were revealed".

 

"We once again urge the immediate release of the two journalists," the embassy said in a statement on Thursday.

 

In a Twitter message, the Committee to Protect Journalists also reiterated its demand that the two reporters be set free.

 

The court hearing is to determine whether Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo will face charges under the Official Secrets Act, which dates back to 1923 - when Myanmar, then known as Burma, was under British rule - and carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

 

They have been accused under Section 3.1 (c) of the act, which covers entering prohibited places, and taking images or obtaining secret official documents that "might be or is intended to be, directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy".

 

The next hearing will be on Feb. 6.

 

(Reporting by Myanmar bureau; Writing by Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Alex Richardson)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-2-1

[spidermike007]

Whatever you do, do not expose the truth. Burma is doing everything in it's power, to deny, obfuscate, and deflect, the horrendous crimes it is committing against it's own people. This genocide is deplorable. And the lady, or should I say the woman who used to be a lady, but is now a serial killing pig, is largely responsible. She has said or done nothing. She is highly complicit and has lost all of her credibility, and the nobility, that we once thought she had. Talk about power corrupting the soul. She is the ultimate example of this. What a loser.

[cooked]

On 2/2/2018 at 11:35 AM, spidermike007 said:

Whatever you do, do not expose the truth. Burma is doing everything in it's power, to deny, obfuscate, and deflect, the horrendous crimes it is committing against it's own people. This genocide is deplorable. And the lady, or should I say the woman who used to be a lady, but is now a serial killing pig, is largely responsible. She has said or done nothing. She is highly complicit and has lost all of her credibility, and the nobility, that we once thought she had. Talk about power corrupting the soul. She is the ultimate example of this. What a loser.

I don't deny that these reporters should be freed, even though Reuters has become an Islamophile reporting agency.

Now here is the news: there is NO genocide taking place in the Rakhine.  Unless you count the many massacres and rebellions occasioned by the Roros since 1942 (30 000 Buddhists and Hindus killed by the noble Roros). 

Serial killing is not taking place unless you count the killing of 92 Hindus last year which is the biggest reported to date (not by Reuters). 2012 in Maungdaw and Siiwe? Planning and attacking police posts on the eve of the announcement of Kofi Anan's peace plan? 

Put this beside  the despicable treatment of ethnic minorities by the Chiattagonians (which is the correct name for the Roros), in closely neighbouring Bangladesh....massacres, rapes, demolishing of temples.. (not one mosque has been demolished in Burma) and the fact that Jihad has been declared against the Burmese (well everybody really, but for the time being, you may come to a different conclusion. 

MSF reported 6 700 people killed in one month by Burmese militia and army. The statistical basis for arriving at this figure are very doubtful (Question: has a family member of yours been killed? Answer :yes) If things are anything like in Thailand, the concept of the word family includes a LOT of people. 

 

You will of course dismiss the evidence of this video: 

https://moderntokyonews.com/2018/01/04/bengali-muslims-and-islamization-pity-the-indigenous-of-assam-chittagong-hill-tracts-and-rakhine/ might also be of interest,

Edited February 7, 2018 by cooked

[spidermike007]

27 minutes ago, cooked said:

I don't deny that these reporters should be freed, even though Reuters has become an Islamophile reporting agency.

Now here is the news: there is NO genocide taking place in the Rakhine.  Unless you count the many massacres and rebellions occasioned by the Roros since 1942 (30 000 Buddhists and Hindus killed by the noble Roros). 

Serial killing is not taking place unless you count the killing of 92 Hindus last year which is the biggest reported to date (not by Reuters). 2012 in Maungdaw and Siiwe? Planning and attacking police posts on the eve of the announcement of Kofi Anan's peace plan? 

Put this beside  the despicable treatment of ethnic minorities by the Chiattagonians (which is the correct name for the Roros), in closely neighbouring Bangladesh....massacres, rapes, demolishing of temples.. (not one mosque has been demolished in Burma) and the fact that Jihad has been declared against the Burmese (well everybody really, but for the time being, you may come to a different conclusion. 

MSF reported 6 700 people killed in one month by Burmese militia and army. The statistical basis for arriving at this figure are very doubtful (Question: has a family member of yours been killed? Answer :yes) If things are anything like in Thailand, the concept of the word family includes a LOT of people. 

 

You will of course dismiss the evidence of this video: 

https://moderntokyonews.com/2018/01/04/bengali-muslims-and-islamization-pity-the-indigenous-of-assam-chittagong-hill-tracts-and-rakhine/ might also be of interest,

 

One can only be pushed so far, before retaliation is the only form of action that comes to mind. And any powerful intellect can come up with 100 ways to justify any position. That definitely appears to be the case here. 

 

So, you are in agreement with the ignorant, racist lady, when she says there has been nothing in the way of ethnic cleansing taking place against the Rohinga people? Would you also go as far as saying that basically the majority of the Buddhist people in Burma are fine with the Rohinga people, and prepared to allow them to live in peace, grant them citizenship and passports and all of the other rights accorded to other Burmese citizens, if and when they return from Bangladesh?

[cooked]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

 

One can only be pushed so far, before retaliation is the only form of action that comes to mind. And any powerful intellect can come up with 100 ways to justify any position. That definitely appears to be the case here. 

 

So, you are in agreement with the ignorant, racist lady, when she says there has been nothing in the way of ethnic cleansing taking place against the Rohinga people? Would you also go as far as saying that basically the majority of the Buddhist people in Burma are fine with the Rohinga people, and prepared to allow them to live in peace, grant them citizenship and passports and all of the other rights accorded to other Burmese citizens, if and when they return from Bangladesh?

Do you know the difference between ethnic cleansing and genocide?

The majority of Buddhists are not prepared to live alongside people that hate them. This particular group of Muslims take to heart the preaching of the Koran that tells them to despise all non-Muslims. Now they are being exploited by external powers that are very interested in the Burmese oil now being exported across the Rakhine to China and not to the West. I am, in a way, sorry for them. As I tried to explain, most of these people are invaders from Bangladesh, from the Chittagong Hill Tracts. 90 years ago they were a minority group in the area but were never welcome nor wished to make themselves welcome and integrate into Burmese society.

If by 'ignorant racist lady you mean who I think you do, (you probably can't spell the name) then you are obviously poorly informed and shouldn't read so much MSM.

What is she supposed to do? Put herself out of office by criticising the military? Go against the wishes of all the ethnic groups in the Rakhine that have suffered for years from the illegal presence of these people?