WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 80 U.S. lawmakers have urged
the Trump administration to step up efforts to win the release of two Reuters
journalists jailed in Myanmar for reporting about massacres against Rohingya
(ROH'-hihn-jah) Muslims.
Republican and Democratic House members say it's the
latest example of erosion of press freedom in Myanmar. In a letter publicized
Monday, they called for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to raise the issue with
the nation's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi (ahng sahn soo chee), and to
publicly call for the journalists' immediate and unconditional release.
Wa Lone (wah lohn) and Kyaw Soe Oo (jahw soh oo) were
sentenced to seven years imprisonment on Sept. 3 for possessing state secrets.
They had reported on the army's brutal counter-insurgency campaign that drove
700,000 Rohingya to Bangladesh.