The two reporters, Wa Lone (33), and Kyaw Soe Oo (29), had been convicted in September and sentenced to seven years in jail, in a case that raised questions about Myanmar’s progress toward democracy and sparked an outcry from diplomats and human rights advocates.
Two Reuters journalists who were under detention in Myanmar for more than 500 days after their conviction of breaking the Official Secrets Act on May 7, 2019 walked free from a prison on the outskirts of Yangon, witnesses said.
Wa Lone (33) and Kyaw Soe Oo (29) were convicted in September last and sentenced to seven years in jail. They were attested in December 2017. The case raised questions about Myanmar’s progress toward democracy and sparked an outcry from diplomats and human rights advocates.
President Win Myint has pardoned thousands of other prisoners in mass amnesties since last month. It is customary in Myanmar for the authorities to free prisoners across the country around the time of the traditional New Year, which began on April 17.
Reuters has said the two men did not commit any crime and had called for their release.
Swamped by media and well-wishers as they walked through the gates of Insein Prison, on the outskirts of the commercial capital of Yangon, a grinning Wa Lone gave a thumbs up and said he was grateful for the international efforts to secure their freedom.
“I’m really happy and excited to see my family and my colleagues. I can’t wait to go to my newsroom.”
Before their arrest, both had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys by security forces and Buddhist civilians in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State during an army crackdown that began in August 2017. The operation sent more than 730,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh, according to U.N. estimates.
The report the two men authored, featuring testimony from perpetrators, witnesses and families of the victims, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in May, adding to a number of accolades received by the pair for their journalism.