TRT World
The four were sentenced to two months in prison for
flying a drone close to Myanmar's parliament building in late October. They had
faced the possibility of import export-related charges, but the prosecution has
dropped those.
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| A crew of journalists working for TRT World were sentenced on November 10, 2017 to two months in jail for possessing an unlicensed drone. ( TRTWorld ) |
A Myanmar court has dropped additional charges against
two foreign journalists and their local staff, working for Turkey's public
broadcaster TRT World. The crew were detained on October 27 for flying a drone
near the parliament building in the capital, Naypyidaw.
Their lawyer said on Thursday Lau Hon Meng, a
Singaporean, and Mok Choy Lin, a Malaysian, will be freed from detention
together with two local staffers,
interpreter Aung Naing Soe and driver Hla Tin on January 5, after they
have served a two-month sentence for illegally flying a drone.
They had faced the possibility of further charges
relating to the import of equipment and alleged immigration violations.
Reuters journalists still in detention
In a separate case on Wednesday, a court extended the
detention of two Reuters journalists and set their trial for January 10 on
charges of violating state secrets.
Several journalists in Myanmar have been arrested this
year, leading rights groups to warn that the gains made in press freedom since
the end of military rule risk being reversed under the rule of national leader
Aung San Suu Kyi.
More than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled
majority-Buddhist Myanmar for neighbouring Bangladesh since security forces
responded to Rohingya militants' attacks on August 25 by launching a crackdown.
Myanmar's military's actions have been described as
"ethnic cleansing" by Turkey, the US and a top UN official.