Amal Clooney has confirmed that she will serve as counsel to Wa Lone and
Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters reporters facing charges for allegedly
posessing classified government papers. Source: Reuters
INTERNATIONALLY acclaimed human rights lawyer Amal Clooney will be
joining the legal team of the two Burmese reporters on trial in the
Southeast Asian country, her office said on Thursday.
Clooney, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers specialising in
international law and human rights, has confirmed that she will serve as
counsel to Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters reporters facing charges for allegedly possessing classified government papers
The office in a statement said Clooney has been instructed jointly by Reuters and the two defendants in the case.
The two on trial are investigative reporters who were arrested last
December following their reports of a massacre of 10 Rohingya men and
boys in Rakhine State state during an army crackdown that began in
August, which has sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.
They are accused of violating the country’s Official Secrets Act, a
colonial-era statute which carries a maximum prison sentence of 14
years, and are currently detained in a Yangon prison during the criminal
trial.
Detained Reuters journalist Wa Lone is escorted by police after a court
hearing in Yangon, Myanmar March 7, 2018. Source: Reuters/Stringer
“Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are being prosecuted simply because they
reported the news. I have reviewed the case file and it is clear beyond
doubt that the two journalists are innocent and should be released
immediately,” Clooney, who is married to actor George Clooney, said.
“Yet they have been denied bail and face 14 years in prison. The outcome
of this case will tell us a lot about Myanmar’s (Burma’s) commitment to
the rule of law and freedom of speech.”
Gail Gove, Chief Counsel of Reuters,
said: “We will pursue all avenues to secure our reporters’ release.
Retaining Ms Clooney greatly strengthens our international legal
expertise and allows us to broaden those efforts.”
Zaw Htay, a spokesman for Burma’s civilian government, declined to comment.
Government officials have previously denied the arrests represent an
attack on press freedom, which rights advocates say is under growing
threat in the Southeast Asian country.
Burma’s ambassador to the United Nations, Hau Do Suan, said last month that the Reuters journalists
were not arrested for reporting a story, but were accused of “illegally
possessing confidential government documents”.
Detained Reuters journalist Wa Lone is escorted by police during a break
at a court hearing in Yangon, Myanmar February 1, 2018. Source:
Reuters/Jorge Silva
The pair have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after
being handed some rolled up papers at a restaurant in northern Yangon
by two policemen they had not met before, having been invited to meet
the officers for dinner.
The district court in northern Yangon will hear arguments from
prosecutors and defence lawyers on the motion to dismiss the case on
April 4.
