Human rights attorney Amal Clooney is joining the legal team representing two Reuters reporters who were arrested and imprisoned while reporting on the Rohingya massacre.
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are currently jailed in Yangon, Myanmar, and are accused of violating Myanmar’s Official Secrets Act, a colonial-era law. The two face a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison if convicted.
The two reporters were investigating the massacre of 10 Rohingya men in Myanmar’s Rakhine State when they were arrested in December.
“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 said in a statement.
“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 commitment to the rule of law and freedom of speech.”
Since January, a district court in Yangon has been holding preliminary hearings to determine whether the two Reuters reporters will be charged under the Official Secrets Act.
On Wednesday, members of their legal team asked the court to dismiss the case due to insufficient evidence to support the charges against the pair of reporters. The court will hear arguments on their motion to throw out the case next week.
Gail Gove, chief counsel at Reuters, said in a statement the addition of Clooney, who is married to actor to George Clooney, to the legal team “greatly strengthens our international legal expertise and allows us to broaden those efforts.”
