SINGAPORE: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Myanmar on Saturday to immediately release two Reuters journalists held on charges of possessing secret documents.
Pompeo said in a tweet he raised US concerns about the two reporters “detained in Burma for doing their job” during a meeting with Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Kyaw Tin on the sidelines of a regional gathering in Singapore.
“They should be released immediately,” Pompeo tweeted.
Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them and said they were framed by police, apparently because of their reporting on the brutal crackdown by security forces on minority Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. About 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh after the crackdown began last August.
They face up to 14 years in prison if convicted.
Their lawyer, Than Zaw Aung, told reporters after Monday’s court session in Yangon that documents presented as prosecution evidence were neither secret nor sensitive.
Several additional witnesses are to testify this month, after which the lawyers will deliver their closing arguments and the judge his verdict. The court so far has held about 30 sessions over seven months.
Kyaw Soe Oo said Monday that he testified he did not know where the documents on his phone came from, and he had conducted his work according to ethical standards. He said he was not allowed to meet lawyers or family members during his two weeks of interrogation and was made to kneel for about four hours while being questioned.
Wa Lone, who was cross-examined last week, said the interrogation process was abusive.
“We were not allowed to sleep. The weather was too cold at that time. We were handcuffed,” he said.
Pompeo calls on Myanmar to release 2 Reuters journalists
Pompeo calls on Myanmar to release 2 Reuters journalists
- Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them and said they were framed by police
- They face up to 14 years in prison if convicted
Bondi Beach attack hero says wanted to protect ‘innocent people’
DUBAI: Bondi Beach shooting hero Ahmed Al Ahmed recalled the moment he ran toward one of the attackers and wrenched his shotgun away, saying the only thing he had in mind was to stop the assailant from “killing more innocent people.”
Al-Ahmad’s heroism was widely acclaimed in Australia when he tackled and disarmed gunman Sajid Akram who fired at Jewish people attending a Hanukkah event on December 14, killing 15 people and wounding dozens.
“My target was just to take the gun from him, and to stop him from killing a human being’s life and not killing innocent people,” he told CBS News in an interview on Monday.
“I know I saved lots, but I feel sorry for the lost.”
In footage viewed by millions of people, Al Ahmed was seen ducking between parked cars as the shooting unfolded, then wresting a gun from one of the assailants.
He was shot several times in the shoulder as a result and underwent several rounds of surgery.
“I jumped in his back, hit him and … hold him with my right hand and start to say a word like, you know, to warn him, ‘Drop your gun, stop doing what you’re doing’,” Al Ahmed said.
“I don’t want to see people killed in front of me, I don’t want to see blood, I don’t want to hear his gun, I don’t want to see people screaming and begging, asking for help,” Al Ahmed told the television network.
“That’s my soul asked me to do that, and everything in my heart, and my brain, everything just worked, you know, to manage and to save the people’s life,” he said.
EXCLUSIVE: Ahmed al Ahmed, the man hailed as a hero for tackling one of the gunmen behind an antisemitic attack on Australia's Bondi Beach earlier this month, is speaking out in the aftermath of the massacre.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 28, 2025
"I know I saved lots, but I feel sorry still for the lost." pic.twitter.com/gFUfJvv7c6
Al Ahmed was at the beach getting a cup of coffee when the shooting occurred.
He is a father of two who emigrated to Australia from Syria in 2007, and works as a fruit seller.
Local media reported that the Australian government has fast-tracked and granted a number of visas for Al Ahmed’s family following his act of bravery.
“Ahmed has shown the courage and values we want in Australia,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.
One of the gunmen, Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the attack. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.
His 24-year-old son Naveed, an Australian-born citizen, remains in custody on charges including terrorism and 15 murders, as well as committing a “terrorist act” and planting a bomb with intent to harm.
(with AFP)
