MYANMAR POLICE TO FREE JOURNALISTS WORKING FOR TURKISH BROADCASTER
Singapore journalist Lau Hon Meng arrives for his court hearing in Zabuthiri court at Naypyitaw, Myanmar November 16, 2017. |
Myanmar police said on Tuesday they would drop pending charges against
two journalists working for Turkey’s state broadcaster, their interpreter and
driver, who were jailed in November for violating an aircraft law by filming
with a drone.
Cameraman Lau Hon Meng from Singapore, reporter Mok Choy Lin from
Malaysia, Aung Naing Soe - a local journalist who was interpreting for the pair
- and driver Hla Tin were detained by police on Oct. 27 near Myanmar’s
parliament building in the capital Naypyitaw.
They are currently each serving a two-month prison sentence under a
colonial-era aircraft law, but all four still face further charges for
importing the drone. The two foreign nationals have also been charged with an
immigration offence.
Police Lieutenant Tun Tun Win and an immigration officer - the
complainants - appeared in a Naypyitaw courtroom on Tuesday and asked that the
court drop the charges.
Tun Tun Win told Reuters higher police officials had ordered the case
dropped because the four did not mean to endanger national security by flying
the drone.
Additionally, he said, the decision was intended “to forward the
relationship between countries”, referring to the two journalists’ home
countries, Singapore and Malaysia.
A law officer - the government’s prosecutor in the case - was expected
to tell the court the charges were formally dropped in another hearing set for
Thursday, defense lawyer Khin Maung Zaw told Reuters.
“The higher authorities already instructed to terminate with good
intention, but the procedure can only be accomplished on that day (Thursday),”
the lawyer said.
The four are set to complete their sentences under the aircraft act on
Jan. 9, but may be released earlier for good behavior, he added.
The case had raised concerns over freedom of the press in Myanmar,
where a civilian government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi took power
last year but the military retains control of security matters, including the
police.
Two Reuters journalists were arrested on Dec. 12 after they went to
meet police officers for dinner on the outskirts of Myanmar’s largest city
Yangon. Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, have now been in detention for two
weeks with no access to visitors or to a lawyer.
They had covered the crisis in western Rakhine state that has driven
655,000 stateless Rohingya Muslims across the border to Bangladesh since
August.
The reporters are being investigated under the colonial-era Official
Secrets Act.
News source : Reuters
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