Arakan News Agency
The EU envoy to Myanmar has raised concerns about the arrest of two Reuters journalists in a letter to Aung San Suu Kyi, describing the situation as “serious intimidation” and demanding their immediate release.
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested on Dec. 12. They are under investigation on suspicion of violating the Official Secrets Act, a law that is not much used and dates back to British colonial rule.
The two journalists were working to cover the crisis in the western state of Arakan, where an army campaign in August forced more than 650,000 pre-Islamic Muslims to flee to Bangladesh to live in camps.
She is due to appear before a court on Wednesday. It will be the second time they have been brought before a court and prosecutors may seek to charge them.
“This situation amounts to serious intimidation against journalists in general and Reuters in particular,” said European Union envoy Christian Schmidt in Yangon in a Jan. 8 letter.
“Journalists must … be able to work in an atmosphere of freedom and empowerment without fear of intimidation, unjustified arrest or persecution.”
“We therefore call on your government to provide the necessary legal protection to journalists to ensure full respect for their fundamental rights and release them immediately.”
Officials from some of the world’s major powers, including the United States, Britain and Canada, as well as senior UN officials, demanded the release of journalists.
