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These two Reuters reporters Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28 were prosecuted for sending intelligent information on Burmese border guard force detail and military operation to the foreign news agency which believed to be shared with OIC (The Organization of Islamic Cooperation) that supporting Islamic terrorist organization the ARSA. The information might be transferred to the Islamic terrorist group the ARSA.
They were not prosecuted for reporting on the extrajudicial killings of 10 Rohingya by victim villagers and soldiers in a Rakhine village. Also, they have kept the contact numbers of spokesperson from AA (Arakan Army) on their phone which the Burmese law prohibits from civilian contacting with outlaw rebel armed force.
They were reporting from inside Burma and the Burmese law applies to all reporters who are reporting and working from inside Burma. They have to obey the Burmese law regardless of that law was out of date Colony era law or not.
However, the Burmese Police had made an error when they have arrested of these two Reuters reporters. That kind of error made by Burmese Police will be illegal and their case will be thrown out of court in some courts in Europe, but also some of the European countries’ Police are still practicing like the Burmese Police. The Burmese Police should have get warrant from the court and search their home and check their phone instead of using illegal method which used by British Colony era Police in Burma.
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo had made an unintentional mistake by sending the information on Burmese Border guard position map and detail of Border guard force and as well as the information on Burmese army operation in Rakhine State to their handler from the Reuters news agency. They were naïve and they will try their best whenever their handlers from foreign news agency asked them to do. If they do not do as what their handlers asked them and then they were threatened with withholding their salary.
For example; Former Burmese reporter for the Reuters new agency said they were told they won’t be paid if they wrote Rohingya as Bengali. They all know so called Rohingya peoples are illegal Bengali migrants from Bangladesh but they have to obey their handlers demand because they have to feed their family. Also, their handlers demand they must write “the Rohingya ethnic was the world most prosecuted minority ethnic from Rakhine state, Burma” and also, they must write definition for “Kalar” as derogatory words in Burmese language as well. The Burmese reporters for foreign news agency were pressured to change the definition of Burmese language, historye and to use incorrect information by their foreign news agency handlers. We don’t know who was the behind those foreign news agency handlers. Why they were enthusiastically pressured their poor naïve Burmese reporters to change Burmese language and History for accommodating for illegal Bengali migrant as one of Burmese Rakhine native ethnics?
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were among them. They want to oppose their handlers’ instruction, but the Dollar was too dear and too sweet for them. Most of Burmese people called them as traitors in Burma, but the international journalism organization and human rights organization made them as heroes. International standard, they have done nothing wrong, but country standard, they have committed a crime, it depends on which country you live.
They have made some mistakes and they have to take some responsibility and recognized unintentionally they have broken the law instead of denying they made no mistake. Journalism is not a crime, but additional sending the military operation secret and border guard position map and the numbers of border guard force detail to foreign organization are crime in Burma because the Burmese military was officially war with Islamic terrorist group the ARSA.
If they want to appeal to Presidential pardon and them, they have to confess and recognize they have made some unintentional mistake when they send their report to the Reuters news agency. If they wanted to maintain what they did was justified and nothing wrong and then they should maintain their innocence.
Jan 16, 2019 02:11 PM
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