INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Kyaw Soe Oo (left) and Wa Lone have been in prison for one year
Family,
friends and colleagues of two Reuters journalists imprisoned in Myanmar have called for their immediate release one year on from their
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were earlier this week honoured among other persecuted or killed journalists as Time magazine's persons of the year
They were sentenced to seven years in jail for violating a state secrets act while reporting on the Rohingya crisis.The case has been widely
seen as a test of press freedom in Myanmar.Supporters of the pair planned to gather in central Yangon on Wednesday evening, while people
from around the world posted photos on social media of the "thumbs up" gesture that became a symbol of the pair's court appearances.The two
journalists had been investigating the murders of 10 Rohingya men by the army in the northern Rakhine village of Inn Dinn.They were detained
in December last year while carrying official documents they had been given by two police officers
They have always maintained their innocence and say they were set up by the police.TheIndianSubcontinent Myanmar correspondent Nick Beake
said the pair's award-winning investigation forced a rare admission of guilt from the still powerful Burmese military
But it made no difference at their trial, he adds, explaining that for many, it was a farce - as seen when a police whistle-blower admitted
that the reporters had been set up, before he too was jailed
Image copyrightHANDOUTImage caption
These are the men whose deaths the Reuters journalists were investigating
Myanmar's de-facto political leader Aung San Suu Kyi has faced strong international criticism for insisting they had a fair trial and
has ignored all calls to pardon them
She defended the verdict saying the two journalists had broken the law and that their conviction had "nothing to do with freedom of
expression at all".She's also facing criticism for not speaking up for the Muslim Rohingya minority
Since last year, at least 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar, also known as Burma, after the army launched a brutal crackdown in response to
attacks by a Rohingya militant group.The UN has called for top military figures to be investigated for genocide.
