Myanmar Burning (Reuters)
Myanmar's top court has rejected the final appeal for the release of two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. The two reporters were arrested in 2017 and sentenced to seven years in prison for the work that earned them and their colleagues the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting.
The Pulitzer Prize Board described the work as, "expertly exposing the military units and Buddhist villagers responsible for the systematic expulsion and murder of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, courageous coverage that landed its reporters in prison."
Read the full body of the prize-winning entry here.
Reuters chief counsel Gail Gove released a statement today on the case, saying:
“Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo did not commit any crime, nor was there any proof that they did. Instead, they were victims of a police set-up to silence their truthful reporting. We will continue to do all we can to.”
Previously, Vice President Mike Pence condemed the journalists' imprisonment, according to NPR, which also cited the Committee to Protect Journalists' comments on the case. Read that piece here.