Myanmar prosecutor seeks Official Secrets Act charges against two Reuters reporters
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YANGON - Myanmar prosecutors sought charges on Wednesday against two Reuters reporters under the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years, the reporters' lawyer said.
Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, were detained on Dec. 12 after they had been invited to meet police officers over dinner. Family members have said the two told them they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some documents by the officers they had gone to meet.
The two had worked on Reuters coverage of a crisis in the western state of Rakhine, where - according to UN estimates - about 655,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from a fierce military crackdown on militants.
Khin Maung Zaw, a lawyer representing the two journalists, said the charges being sought came under Section 3 (1)(c) of the British colonial-era Official Secrets Act dating back to 1923 when the country was known as Burma.
Section 3 covers entering prohibited places, taking images or handling secret official documents that "might be or is intended to be, directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy".
Former US President Bill Clinton also urged that they be freed immediately.
