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Reuters journalists await 'secrets' verdict

Online Desk

26 Aug 2018 23:27 PM

Two Reuters journalists who documented a massacre of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar are due to hear whether they will be jailed for violating a state secrets act.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested in December while carrying secret official documents they had just been given by police officers.

The men face up to 14 years in jail if found guilty. They deny the charges.

Their lawyer said they would be freed "if the judiciary is free and fair".

Wa Lone has said their work followed all media ethics, BBC reports. 

"We tried to tell the truth based on the real situation," he said previously.

The verdict comes a year after the long-running crisis in Rakhine state came to a head when a previously unknown Rohingya militant group staged deadly attacks on police posts.

The military responded with a large-scale deadly operation against the Rohingya, which the UN has said was intended to drive them out of the country for good.

Media access to Rakhine is strictly controlled by the government so it is difficult to get reliable news from the region. 

Samakal English

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