YANGON: A Myanmar court ruled Wednesday that crucial testimony from a whistleblowing policeman in the case against two Reuters journalists is credible, a decision seen as a “ray of light” by the defense.
Reporters Wa Lone, 32 and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, have been in custody since December.
They are accused of violating the country’s Official Secrets Act for possessing material linked to security operations in conflict-hit Rakhine state.
The charge carries up to 14 years in prison.
Over months of pre-trial hearings, their defense team has insisted they were set up — lured to dinner by a police source who handed them documents for which they were subsequently arrested.
Court testimony last month by Deputy Police Major Moe Yan Naing backed up that version of events, even though he had been called as a prosecution witness.
He said a superior ordered his men to set up the sting which resulted in sensitive documents being passed to the reporters.
In response prosecutors asked the court to declare Moe Yan Naing a hostile witness.
But the court found no problems with the police officer’s account.
“The court rejects the proposal claiming the law officer to be a hostile witness,” Judge Ye Lwin told the hearing Wednesday.
A lawyer for the journalists welcomed the decision.
“I am elated. The court has proved itself as a court of justice,” Khin Maung Zaw said. “We have seen a ray of light. It strengthens our case.”
The two journalists were also buoyed by the court ruling.
“We are happy about today’s decision. This shows that the truth will come out and proves that we have been treated unfairly,” Wa Lone told reporters before they were taken back to prison.
On April 30 the police officer was jailed for breaching a police disciplinary act, a charge he had faced since December for previous communications with Wa Lone.
Police sources said he was sentenced before he gave his shock testimony to court — an extremely rare instance of a security official openly challenging superiors in the formerly junta-run country.
In addition, the family of Moe Yan Naing was evicted from their police housing a day after he gave evidence. Police denied the two events were connected.
At the time of their arrest, the reporters were investigating the extrajudicial killing of 10 Rohingya men in the village of Inn Din in the north of Rakhine state.
The military has denied allegations of widespread atrocities against the Muslim minority.
But it did concede that security officers took part in the killings at Inn Din which were later reported by Reuters.
Some 700,000 Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh since the army-led campaign was launched last August, ostensibly to combat Rohingya insurgents.
The stateless group has faced decades of systematic discrimination and persecution in mainly Buddhist Myanmar.
Myanmar judge says policeman’s ‘entrapment’ testimony stands
Myanmar judge says policeman’s ‘entrapment’ testimony stands
- Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been in custody since December
- At the time of their arrest, the reporters were investigating the extrajudicial killing of 10 Rohingya men in the village of Inn Din
Media watchdogs condemn Israeli airstrike that killed 3 journalists in Gaza, call for investigation
- International Press Institute, Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders among organizations demanding urgent action
DUBAI: Media watchdogs including the International Press Institute, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders have spoken out against Israel’s treatment of media workers following an airstrike that killed 3 journalists in Gaza on Wednesday.
Those killed were Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Shaat and Anas Ghneim.
The Israeli military said the attack targeted what it had identified as “several suspects” operating a drone and “affiliated with Hamas.”
According to eyewitnesses, the journalists were using a drone to record aid distribution by the Egyptian Relief Committee when the strike hit one of the committee’s vehicles.
The IPI called for an “immediate and credible investigation” and renewed pressure on the international community to take “concrete actions” to hold Israel accountable.
IPI executive director Scott Griffen said the Israeli government has “failed to credibly investigate attacks on journalists” and that the “international community has failed to hold Israel to account for its pattern of targeting and killing journalists.”
He urged strong action, saying that “it is long past time for the international community to take concrete steps to end the cycle of complete impunity for killings of journalists in Gaza.”
The International Federation of Journalists and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate also condemned the killings and attacks on journalists, calling for an immediate investigation.
The IFJ appealed to all “combatants in this conflict to do their utmost to safeguard journalists and media professionals,” said IFJ general secretary Anthony Bellanger.
“Media workers in areas of armed conflict must be treated and protected as civilians and allowed to perform their work without interference,” he added.
The PJS said that the direct shelling of the journalists’ vehicle constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity under international humanitarian law, in violation of the Geneva Conventions and UN resolutions that guarantee the protection of journalists during armed conflicts.
The syndicate called on the International Criminal Court to open “urgent and serious investigations” and to “issue arrest warrants against those responsible for the killing of journalists.”
It also urged the UN and other international organizations to take action “rather than limiting their response to statements of condemnation.”
The CPJ condemned the strike, which took place amid a ceasefire, said regional director Sara Qudah.
“Israel, which possesses advanced technology capable of identifying its targets, has an obligation under international law to protect journalists,” she said.
On Thursday, CPJ and RSF called on the 29 member states of the Media Freedom Coalition, in a joint letter, to take concrete steps toward guaranteeing media access to the Gaza Strip.
The move comes ahead of the Israeli Supreme Court hearing on Jan. 26 that will determine whether the press will have independent access to Gaza.
The signatories asked governments to send official representatives to the Jan. 26 hearing and to prioritize press freedom in their engagement with the new technocratic government, formed under a US-backed plan to govern Gaza.
They also urged states to ensure that the International Stabilization Force applies UN Security Council Resolution 2222, which recognizes journalists as civilians during armed conflict and affirms their right to protection and access.
“The inaction of states around the world encourages censorship and sets a dangerous precedent for other conflicts, to the detriment of civilian populations, humanitarian aid and political decisions based on verified facts,” said RSF director general Thibaut Bruttin.
More than 200 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed since the start of the war in October 2023, according to multiple reports.
