Yangon - Prominent human rights lawyer
Amal Clooney has joined the legal team representing two Reuters
reporters jailed in Myanmar, who are accused of possessing
secret government papers, her office said on Thursday.
A court in Yangon has been holding preliminary hearings
since January to decide whether Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo,
28, will be charged under the colonial-era Officials Secrets
Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.
The journalists had been working on a Reuters investigation
into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men in western Myanmar's
Rakhine state during an army crackdown that began in August,
which has sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.
Lawyers for the two reporters on Wednesday asked the court
to throw out the case, saying there was insufficient evidence to
support charges against the pair.
"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," Amal Clooney was quoted as
saying in a statement released by her office.
"The outcome of this case will tell us a lot about Myanmar's
commitment to the rule of law and freedom of speech," said
Clooney, who is married to actor George Clooney.
Zaw Htay, spokesman for Myanmar'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.
Myanmar'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".
Gail Gove, chief counsel of Reuters, said retaining Clooney
would strengthen the company's international legal expertise and
broaden efforts to secure the release of the reporters.
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been in custody since their
arrest on December 12.
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.