Myanmar court sentences 2 Reuters journalists to 7 years

A Myanmar judge on Monday sentenced two Reuters journalists to seven years in prison over charges related to their coverage of the massacre of members of the country's Rohingya Muslim minority, Quartz reports. The journalists, Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were convicted of violating the colonial-era Official Secrets Act. They said they were framed by police who planted classified documents on them.

"I have no fear," Wa Lone said after the verdict. "I have not done anything wrong." Reuters editor-in-chief Stephen J. Adler called the sentencing "a major step backward in Myanmar's transition to democracy."

Supporters of the journalists have called on Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a democracy activist once jailed in the same prison, to use her influence to get them amnesty.

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