Reuters editor-in-chief calls for journalists' release on year anniversary of arrests

Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen J Adler called upon Myanmar to release two Reuters journalists on the anniversary of their arrests on.

"A year ago, Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested in a setup by police intended to interfere with the reporting on a massacre in Myanmar. The fact that they remain in prison for a crime they did not commit calls into question Myanmar's commitment to democracy, freedom of expression, and rule of law,'' Adler said.

''Everyday they continue to be behind bars is a missed opportunity for Myanmar to stand up for justice. The people of Myanmar deserve the freedoms and democracy they have long been promised, and Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo deserve to be returned to their families and colleagues immediately," he added.

Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were found guilty in September last year after a trial at a Yangon district court in a landmark case that has raised questions about Myanmar's progress towards democracy and sparked an outcry from diplomats and human rights advocates.