緬甸當局拒絕兩名路透社記者保釋

Two Reuters journalists arrested in Myanmar for violating the country's colonial-era Official Secrets Act were denied bail during a court appearance Thursday.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested on December 12 after they were handed a stack of documents by two policemen at a restaurant in Yangon. The pair were covering the brutal military campaign in Rakhine state that has driven nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims across the border into Bangladesh.
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo face 14 years in prison if they are convicted under the law, which dates back to 1923 when Myanmar was ruled by Britain.
Stephen J. Adler, Reuters president and editor-in-chief, issued a statement expressing his disappointment over the pair's continued imprisonment. "We believe the court proceedings will demonstrate their innocence and Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo will be able to return to their jobs reporting on events in Myanmar," Adler wrote. "We continue to call for their prompt release."緬甸一家法院星期四拒絕兩名路透社記者保釋。這兩名記者因違反緬甸殖民時代的“官方機密法”被逮捕。

路透社記者瓦龍和覺梭12月12日被捕。此前，兩名警察在仰光的一家餐館向他們轉交了一疊文件。這兩名記者當時正在報道發生在若開邦的殘酷軍事行動。緬甸軍方的行動致使近70萬羅興亞穆斯林逃到鄰國孟加拉國。

根據緬甸的官方機密法，如果瓦龍和覺梭被定罪，將面臨14年囚禁。緬甸的官方機密法1923年實施，當時緬甸受英國的統治。

路透社總裁兼總編阿德勒發表聲明，對兩名記者被持續關押表示失望。聲明說，“我們相信法庭的審理將展示瓦龍和覺梭是無辜的，讓他們返回工作，報道緬甸的新聞。我們繼續呼籲立即釋放他們。”