Journalists covering crimes against Rohingya charged in Myanmar

Two Reuters journalists, who covered the ongoing state-sponsored crackdown against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, have been officially charged for breaching a colonial-era law.

The two local journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, were arrested last December during a meeting with two police officials over dinner for “possessing important and secret government documents related to Rakhine State and security forces.”

Despite international calls for their immediate release, Myanmar security forces charged the journalists "under the state secret (Official Secrets) act, section 3.1" at the Yangon court on Wednesday.

The charges brought against them could carry a penalty of up to 14 years behind bars.

According to the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, anyone who "obtains, collects, records or publishes... any official document or information... useful to an enemy," will be punished. The act dates back to 1923, when Myanmar, then known as Burma, was a province of British India.

Family members of the journalists, who were present at the court, told a news conference late last year that police may have fabricated a case for their arrest. They cited the two as saying that police had given “two rolled papers” to them at a restaurant before their arrest.

Their lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, said on Wednesday that the prosecutor had objected to an application for bail, and that the court would decide the matter at the next hearing on January 23.

Reporters covering Wednesday's proceedings dressed in black in protest against the arrest of the Reuters' journalists. They were carrying banners reading "Journalism is not a crime" or wearing T-shirts with the message “Release the arrested journalists now."

Observers from the United Nations and several embassies, including those of the Netherlands, Australia and Britain, were also present at the court as police cordoned off the area.

Top officials from the United Nations and several countries, including Britain and Canada, have called for the release of the pair.

Almost 60,000 Rohingya children are currently trapped in appalling camps in central Rakhine, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported.

UNICEF spokesperson Marixie Mercado, told journalists in Geneva that prior to August 25, UNICEF had been treating 4,800 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, and that these children were no longer receiving the life-saving treatment.

“All 12 of the outpatient therapeutic treatment centers run by our partners are closed because they were either looted, destroyed or staff can't access them,” she said. "We hear of high levels of toxic fear in children from both Rohingya and Rakhine communities.”

Mercado stressed that the Rohingya children “need a political solution to the issue of legal identity and citizenship.”

SS