Reuters news agency called on Myanmar to immediately release two of its journalists who were arrested for possessing "important secret papers"
obtained from two policemen who had worked in Rakhine state, where
violence widely blamed on security forces has forced more than 630,000
minority Rohingya Muslims to flee into neighbouring Bangladesh.
The
Ministry of Information said Wednesday the journalists and policemen
will be charged under the country's colonial-era Official Secrets Act,
which carries penalties of up to 14 years in prison.
Reuters said Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo had been missing since late Tuesday night.
"Reuters
reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been reporting on events of
global importance in Myanmar, and we learned today that they have been
arrested in connection with their work," Stephen J. Adler, president and
editor In chief of Reuters, said in a statement.
"We are outraged by this blatant attack on press freedom. We call for authorities to release them immediately," he said.
The
ministry posted a photo of the two journalists in handcuffs, standing
behind a table bearing documents, cellphones and currency.
It
said they had collected "information and important secret papers
related to the security forces" from the policemen, who had earlier
worked in Rakhine but were now in Yangon, the country's largest city.
"When
we saw that photo of them, it broke our hearts that their picture was
taken like they're criminals," said War Lay, a sister of Kyaw Soe Oo.
"He was just doing his job as a journalist and we hope that they will be
released soon."
Rakhine state is the epicentre of the Myanmar military's brutal security operation against Rohingya Muslims.
The
campaign, launched in August in response to attacks on police outposts,
has been condemned by the United Nations as "ethnic cleansing" and
those fleeing have described widespread rights abuses by security
forces.
In Tokyo, United Nations Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres expressed concern over the detention of the
journalists, saying it was part of an erosion of press freedom in
Myanmar.
"I think it's important that the international
community does everything possible" to win the release of the
journalists and also to end the dramatic human rights violations that
have caused many to flee their country, he said Thursday.
The
military, which is charge of security in northern Rakhine, and the
civilian government have barred most journalists and international
observers from independently traveling to the region.
Shawn
Crispin, a senior representative for the Committee to Protect
Journalists, also called on Myanmar authorities to "to immediately,
unconditionally release" the journalists.
"These arrests
come amid a widening crackdown which is having a grave impact on the
ability of journalists to cover a story of vital global importance," he
said.
The Foreign Correspondents Club of Myanmar said it
was "deeply shocked" by the arrests and "gravely concerned with the
state of press freedom in Myanmar as the journalists were detained while
carrying out their journalistic work."
It also called on authorities to allow their families to meet them as soon as possible.
The US Embassy said it was "deeply concerned by the highly irregular arrests of two Reuters reporters."
"For a democracy to succeed, journalists need to be able to do their jobs freely," it said in a statement.
"We urge the government to explain these arrests and allow immediate access to the journalists."
Journalists in Myanmar are facing renewed harassment, with several arrested in recent months.
Two
foreign journalists along with two of their Myanmar associates are
currently awaiting trial on new charges after already being sentenced to
jail for illegally flying a drone over parliament.
