U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley publicly rebuked the government of Myanmar over the seven year prison sentence slapped on two Reuters reporters who were “doing their jobs.”
“The conviction of two journalists for doing their job is another terrible stain on the Burmese government,” she said in a statement on Twitter Monday. “We will continue to call for their immediate and unconditional release.”
RT @USUN: pic.twitter.com/5ZeToFOqxl
— Nikki Haley (@nikkihaley) September 3, 2018
Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison for obtaining confidential documents from police as the two reported on the persecution of Rohingya Muslims, which some UN officials have labeled a “genocide.”
The two were arrested by different officers just moments after receiving the documents and have been in jail since December. A police witness reportedly testified that the exchange of materials was meant to trap the journalists.