Two Reuters journalists jailed in Myanmar after they allegedly broke the country's Official Secrets Act, were freed on Tuesday after spending more than 500 days behind bars. They are seen with their children — Reuters YANGON, May 07 (AP): Two Reuters journalists who were imprisoned for breaking Myanmar's Official Secrets Act over reporting on security forces' abuses of Rohingya Muslims were pardoned and released on Tuesday.
The convictions of Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, had drawn condemnation from rights groups, Western governments and press associations, and the two journalists had garnered several awards and other honors. In April, they shared with their Reuters colleagues the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, one of journalism's highest honors.
The two were freed after President Win Myint issued a blanket pardon for 6,520 prisoners, said Zaw Zaw, chief of Insein Prison in the country's largest city, Yangon.
Myanmar's Supreme Court on April 23 had rejected the journalists' final appeal against their seven-year prison terms. Their convictions were related to reporting on security forces' abuses of the Muslim Rohingya minority. The reporters contended they were framed because of official displeasure over their reporting.
"I want to say that I am very happy today," Wa Lone said to reporters who had gathered in front of the prison. "I want to thank our friends and families who were trying for our freedom and also to those from all over the world who sympathized with us."
"I am really excited to see my family and colleagues. I can't wait to go to my newsroom," he said.
Myanmar's military launched a brutal counterinsurgency campaign in the western state of Rakhine in 2017, driving more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.
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