YANGON — Two
reporters from Reuters were detained under the Official Secrets Act for
allegedly possessing internal security reports related to fighting between
border guard forces and Muslim militants the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA)
in August.
Local reporters U
Thet Oo Maung, also known as Wa Lone, and Kyaw Soe Oo, also known as Moe Aung,
were arrested by police from Htauk Kyant station in Mingalardon Township in
northern Yangon on Tuesday at 11:30 pm, according to the police report.
The report says a
copy of an Aug. 27 security report by Border Guard Police Unit (8) in Maungdaw
in northern Rakhine State was found with Wa Lone, 31. The report describes the
number of security forces and their remaining ammunition after the fighting.
ARSA launched
attacks on 30 security posts in Maungdaw on Aug. 25. The attacks were followed
by army clearance operations and international accusations that government
troops had arbitrarily killed and raped civilians and burned their homes. The
Myanmar government denounced ARSA as a terrorist organization following the
attacks.
The police also
allegedly found a detailed security report about ARSA’s attack on the Myin Hlut
police outpost on Aug. 25, a map of the outpost, and another report on the
number of Rohingya houses burned with reporter Moe Aung.
The Htauk Kyant
Police Station has filed a lawsuit against the two reporters under Article 3 of
the 1923 Official Secrets Act for “news gathering with an intention to damage
the safety and interest of the State.” If found guilty; the reporters could be
imprisoned for up to 14 years.
Pan Ei Mon, the wife
of Wa Lone, told The Irrawaddy that she was not informed of her husband’s
arrest by the police but learned about it from his Reuters colleagues.
“Reuters reporters
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been missing since Tuesday night. We have filed a
missing person’s report and are doing everything we can to locate them,” a
Reuters spokesperson told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
Two foreign
journalists working for TRT World are currently serving prison terms for
convictions under the Aviation Act for trying to fly a drone near Parliament in
Naypyitaw.
In June, the Myanmar
Army arrested three journalists from The Irrawaddy and DVB in northern Shan
State under the Unlawful Association Act but released them after more than two
months in custody.