Tuesday, May 7, 2019

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Raided Cannabis Farm Was Approved to Grow Hemp, Legal Adviser Says

Posted: 07 May 2019 07:17 AM PDT

MANDALAY—A legal adviser for a U.S. citizen detained on suspicion of illegally growing cannabis said his client was in fact growing industrial hemp with permission from the regional government.

"The plantation was not secret. It was officially approved by the government and established with the agreement of Myotha Industrial Zone as a test plantation," said U Khin Maung Than, legal adviser to III M Global Nutraceutical Company, after a court session on Tuesday.

U.S. citizen John Fredric Todoroki, 63, was arrested with fellow III M Global Nutraceutical employees Ko Shane Latt, 37, and Ma Shunlae Myat Noe, 23, on April 24 under the Anti-Narcotics Law for allegedly operating a marijuana plantation in Myotha Industrial Park of Myinchan District, Mandalay Division.

Authorities are seeking another American, Alexander Skemp Todoroki, 49, in connection with the case. He is outside the country and has yet to appear in court.

The three were arrested after an April Facebook post about the alleged marijuana plantation was widely circulated among Myanmar users of the social media platform.

"The incident happened because of the posts shared on Facebook. The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control need to do more research and investigation, because many countries accept and permit the cultivation of industrial hemp," he added.

The Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) announced that it was responsible for the arrests at the 20-acre plantation following the bust.

The CCDAC said it had seized over 300,000 marijuana plants, 380 kg of marijuana seeds, formic acid, acetone, acetonitrile concort water, methonal liquid, 270.5 kg of dried marijuana and related chemicals and materials.

On the same day, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced that the investigation team had found hemp-like plants believed to have the same content as marijuana, and that some chemicals and materials had been seized. It said the plantation appeared to be intended to produce treatments for cancer sufferers.

The legal adviser told the media that the authorities needed to do more research on the plants to determine whether they are hemp or marijuana plants. Both hemp and marijuana are strains of the cannabis plant species, but only marijuana has sufficient levels of psychoactive chemicals to produce the drug marijuana.

"They were being sued under the Anti-Narcotics Law based on these hemp plants, which the police said are [a strain of] the cannabis species. The police and the authorities should know about the strains and the concentrations of the chemicals [they contain] and will need expert research on these plants," said U Khin Maung Than.

"Moreover, our country has no laws for suing someone who plants industrial hemp. The law only prohibits planting cannabis that can be used as a drug," he added.

The three detainees were taken from Myinchan Prison to the court in Ngazun Township on Tuesday, where prosecutors requested they be held in remand for two weeks. The first hearing in their trial was scheduled for May 21 at Myinchan District Court.

"We hope they will be released soon and that the authorities will learn more about hemp, which could benefit farmers," the lawyer said.

About 60 acres of land for the plantation were leased from Mandalay Myotha Industrial Development Public Co., Ltd (MMID) by U.S. citizens John Fredric, Thomas and Alexander  Skemp.

The post Raided Cannabis Farm Was Approved to Grow Hemp, Legal Adviser Says appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

NRPC, Karenni Rights Groups Still Struggle to Resolve Aung San Statue Debate

Posted: 07 May 2019 06:22 AM PDT

While some major headway was made, local rights activists and members of the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre (NRPC) remained unable to reach final agreement at a meeting on Tuesday over a controversial statue of Gen. Aung San in the town in Loikaw, the Karenni State capital, according to activists that attended the meeting.

Ultimately, the state government said that they would remove the statue, but asked for more time to work out the details, according to Kuhn Thomas, another leader among the activist group present at the meeting.

“The chief minister said at the meeting that he will try to find land to resettle the statue,” said Khun Thomas.

Dee De, a leading local rights activist who participated in the meeting, said both sides agreed to form a committee to continue negotiating the statue's future.

The eight-member committee will include one government representative; two lawmakers, one from the upper and one from the lower house; two religious leaders; two political party representatives; and one lawyer.

"Both sides agreed to form the committee," Dee De said.

Both sides also agreed to a finalized timeframe for negotiations, with another meeting on May 14 and, if needed, a final meeting on May 31, he said. According to Kuhn Thomas, the next meeting will focus on the statue’s relocation.

The meeting almost ended halfway through when local rights activists threatened to stop participating in the face of state government recalcitrance, but the two sides eventually agreed on the formation of the new joint committee to continue negotiations.

The Karenni have their own history their own ethnic leaders, they say, so they don't need the statue of Gen Aung San, which they feel is a symbol of the dominant roles the interests and identity of the Burmese majority plays in the country, to the disadvantage of ethnic minorities. To them, it's also a symbol of what they see as the yet-unfulfilled promises made by the assassinated general and the Panglong Agreement of 1947.

The activists condemned Kayah State Chief Minister L Phaung Sho and his government for the building of the statue, but the state government denies involvement, insisting the statue was built by an independent group.

People in Kayah State held a large protest in February asking for the statue to be taken down but the state government refused, offering instead to broker negotiations between rights activists and a pro-statue group. When those negotiations broke down, the NRPC became involved.

Today's was the NRPC's second meeting. The first was held in March, where the two sides were unable to reach an agreement.

"They told us that the statue of Gen. Aung San has a unifying spirit — that he was a national hero, an architect of the country's independence, so they could not let us remove it," Dee De said.

"Our revolution has not ended yet. I want to inform our people to cooperate with us to fight for our rights," he added. "We're the only people that can work for our history and our national issue."

The post NRPC, Karenni Rights Groups Still Struggle to Resolve Aung San Statue Debate appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

State Gov’t Requests $21M for IDPs in N. Rakhine

Posted: 07 May 2019 05:50 AM PDT

YANGON—The Rakhine State government has requested 3.3 billion kyats (US$21 million) from the Union government to establish a shelter for 33,000 locals displaced by conflict in northern Rakhine State, according to regional minister U Win Myint.

Fighting has been ongoing between the Arakan Army and government troops in the area since January, and the number of IDPs has been on the rise since. But with insufficient humanitarian assistance from the state and Union governments for the displaced Rakhine villagers, local civil society groups and respected influential monks from state capital Sittwe on Monday urged the state government to provide aid and proper shelter to the internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Municipal affairs minister for Rakhine State U Win Myint explained that his cabinet submitted a proposal for 21 million kyats in aid in late April. According to him, authorities estimate the total IDP population reached about 33,000 in April.

The authorities had already designated 710 structures to be used to house approximately 33,000 IDPs in six townships, but a recent surge in the number of displaced poses bigger challenges for the state authorities. According to the Rakhine Ethnic Congress (REC), the total IDP population has now reached 37,000 and this does not include displaced locals in Chin State's Paletwa Township which borders Rakhine to the north.

Minister U Win Myint said each structure is designed to have 10 rooms and will facilitate about 10 families. The project also includes the installation of a water supply and sanitation. Minister U Win Myint elaborated that several thousand of the displaced are living in temporary tents in paddy fields belonging to host communities. They will use the lands to establish the IDP camp and pay rental fees to the host community.

As of Tuesday it remains unclear whether the Union government has given the green light to the state cabinet. Minister U Win Myint said that Rakhine's Border Affairs Minister Col. Phone Tint might know Naypyitaw's response as he is now acting as chairperson of the state while the Rakhine Chief Minister U Nyi Pu is away from Sittwe.

Sittwe-based Wun Lark Foundation's U Khaing Kaung San said, "We hope the government will address the IDP shelter issue."

Relief worker Ko Zaw Zaw Tun from the REC also said that the IDP population is always going up and down. For instance, he said, villagers often temporarily take refuge at a monastery, community hall or school, but then return home when military troops leave their village or if there are no armed clashes. Most of the IDPs in Mrauk-U are staying at monasteries and schools but when the schools resume after summer break, the IDPs will be in trouble.

Displaced locals have been temporarily sheltering in neighboring villages, monasteries and community halls in six townships and mostly receive food from independent local relief groups, said U Khaing Kaung San.

"The living conditions of IDPs, especially in Rathedaung and Buthidaung, are very poor," he said.

The international relief agency World Food Program (WFP) and the International Crescent and Red Cross (ICRC) have been given limited permission by the military to organize shipments of aid in northern Rakhine while armed clashes continue to occasionally erupted in remote areas as well as along the Yangon-Sittwe highway.

The UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Ursula Mueller is scheduled to visit Myanmar from May 9 to 15 and plans to travel to strife-torn northern Rakhine State, as well as Kachin and Shan states, in order observe the "first-hand humanitarian situation", "the impact of ongoing conflict and to discuss durable solutions for the displaced and vulnerable people living there."

The post State Gov't Requests $21M for IDPs in N. Rakhine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Latest Presidential Amnesty Includes Dozens of EAO Members, Accused Associates

Posted: 07 May 2019 05:33 AM PDT

Dozens of political prisoners including two Reuters journalists, members of ethnic armed organizations and civilians accused of being affiliated with the EAOs were among 6,520 prisoners released in a third round of presidential pardons on Tuesday.

News of the third and final round of releases associated with Myanmar's traditional New Year, which fell on April 18 this year, was hailed across many sectors of society.

According to a statement announcing the May 7 presidential amnesty, the prisoners were released "without condition" as part of the Myanmar New Year and to help smooth the peace building process and national reconciliation.

From April 18 to May 7, President U Win Myint pardoned 23,019 prisoners, many of them convicted of violating drug laws, in particular drug convicts who were especially young or old.

The amnestied prisoners also included the two Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who were convicted in September 2018 of violating the Official Secrets Act in relation to their coverage of the Rakhine conflict. Also freed were 27 members of three EAOs: the Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP), the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF), according to U Zaw Htay, the spokesman for the President's Office.

U Zaw Htay told reporters in Loikaw, the capital of Kayah State, on Tuesday that Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo "were released in the best interest of the future of the country" after the State Counselor and the President received letters from their families at a meeting between media practitioners and the government, legislators and members of the judiciary in Naypyitaw on April 30.

"Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo were released as they opted against any further appeal [to the Chief Justice] after losing their appeal to the Naypyitaw Supreme Court [on April 23]," said U Tate Naing, the secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

He said the release of the journalists and other political prisoners was great news, as the AAPP had lobbied consistently for their release, and for an end to the practice of using charges such as the Official Secrets Act against journalists.

Families welcome loved ones released during the third round of presidential pardons in front of Insein Prison in Yangon on Tuesday. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

"This is a belated action by the government and Myanmar benefits little from this action," said Ko Aung Zaw, the editor-in-chief of The Irrawaddy, regarding the release of the Reuters journalists, "but still good news."

"If the government released them last year, it would have been much better," he said, adding that they should not have been jailed in the first place.

He added, "The crackdown on the media is intensifying these days—this is also a worrying trend."

Media professionals in Myanmar have faced prosecution under various charges. Under the current government there have been 31 complaints brought against the media and currently 47 journalists are facing trial, the majority of them under the Telecommunications Act, according to Athan, a Yangon-based group that promotes freedom of expression. Just this week, the editor of a publication based in Sittwe, Rakhine State was sued under the Unlawful Association Act.

The RCSS requested the release of a total of 15 people—some of whom are civilians and some of whom are members of the group—through its peace implementation committee, according to spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Sai Meng.

Among them, eight farmers from Hopong in Shan State were released: They were arrested on July 18, 2017 and accused of being affiliated with the RCSS and sentenced four to 10 years' imprisonment under the Communication Law, Export and Import Law, Arms Act and State Protection Act on Feb. 26 of last year.

For the sake of peace and reconciliation

Government spokesman U Zaw Htay, who is also a key peace negotiator, said the government released 27 people from the EAOs' prisoner lists as part of peace and national reconciliation efforts, after the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) received requests from the three EAOs. The RCSS, SSPP and ABSDF sent lists comprising a total of 30 people believed to be in prison. The government scrutinized the lists and released 23, saying the rest were no longer in prison.

Two ABSDF members, U Aung Swe Oo and U Maung Oo, were sentenced to two years in prison on April 11. They were arrested on Nov. 30 last year and charged under the Unlawful Association Act's Article 17(1) after traveling to a conflict zone in Mohnyin Township, Kachin State to attend the funeral of a member of their organization. This is the second time the ABSDF has benefited from a presidential pardon; group member U Min Htay faced the same charge and sentence in Kachin State. He was arrested in December 2016, charged in 2017 and released the same year.

The AAPP secretary said that among the discharged were two boys—Mai Cho Min Htwe (aka Aik Yen) and Sai Aik Lone. They were released from Hnget Aw San Youth Rehabilitation Center in Yangon's Kawhmu Township, commonly known as the "children's prison", on Tuesday.

Families welcome loved ones released during the third round of presidential pardons in front of Insein Prison in Yangon on Tuesday. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

Mai Cho Min Htwe, a student from Namhsam Township in Shan State, was arrested in Oct. 5, 2017 and sentenced to two years' detention under Article 17(1) of the Unlawful Association Act on Oct. 30 of that year for an alleged affiliation with the Ta'ang Nationalities Liberation Army. Sai Aik Lone from a village in southern Shan State was arrested in 2016 and convicted in 2018 under Article 17(1).

Four women from Mandalay who advocated for land rights were also released from Obo Prison in Mandalay, according to the AAPP. Land-rights activists Daw Mya Sint, Hnin Hayman Win, Ma Htay and Ma Chaw Su were arrested on June 18, 2018 and sentenced to one year and six months' imprisonment under Section 505(b) (incitement) of the Penal Code on Feb. 25, 2019.

Notably absent from Tuesday's amnesty list were Rakhine politician Dr. Aye Maung and author Ko Wai Hin Aung. They appealed to a higher court after the District Court of Sittwe on March 19 sentenced them to 20 years in prison for high treason and another two years for defamation, to be served concurrently.  They were arrested in January last year for remarks they made earlier that month at an event in Rathaetaung Township commemorating the 233rd anniversary of the fall of the Arakan Kingdom to the Burmese in 1785, and prosecuted in September.

According to U Tate Naing, the amnesties will bring a much-needed improvement to the prison situation by reducing the prisoner population, which currently far exceeds capacity. Myanmar's prisons were built to house some 62,000 inmates but currently hold more than 120,000 people, half of them drug inmates, he said.

There are more than 300 activists currently facing trial under various charges, including Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, and 17(1) and 17(2) of the Unlawful Association Act, according to the AAPP.

In 2016, the NLD government included people facing trial in the amnesty, something former president U Thein Sein once did as well, so those who are currently facing charges should also be acquitted soon, U Tate Naing said.

As long as new charges are brought against journalists, political activists and local residents in conflict zones, the cycle of jailing political prisoners and releasing them under pardons will continue, he said.

The post Latest Presidential Amnesty Includes Dozens of EAO Members, Accused Associates appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Military to Investigate Deaths of 6 in Detention

Posted: 07 May 2019 04:40 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW—Deputy Minister for Defense Lieutenant-General Sein Win has promised there would be an investigation into the incident in which six locals in Rakhine State's Rathedaung Township were shot dead by soldiers of the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, during detention.

The deputy minister told reporters after an advisory forum on national reconciliation and peace held in Naypyitaw on Tuesday that an investigation is ongoing.

"We will investigate if the interrogation was conducted in line with procedures. We will take harsh actions if there was a violation of the rules of engagement. For the time being, I can't tell what actions will be taken. We'll wait and see the [results] of the investigation procedure. Actions will be taken in line with the law," said the deputy minister.

Military spokesperson Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun said that an investigative body was formed on Friday with five individuals led by a senior military officer, and that community elders, departmental officials and security forces would be questioned.

"We have not set the deadline for the investigation, but according to procedures, the report has to be submitted within two weeks of the [completion of the] investigation," said Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun.

On April 30, military troops arrived at Kyauktan Village in Rathedaung and summoned all male residents above the age of 15. They then interrogated 275 people at the local school on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA).

Six locals were shot dead while in military detention at around 2:00 a.m. on Thursday in an incident which, according to the military, happened after the detainees attempted to snatch guns from the soldiers.

Eight others were wounded and four are missing, a military press release said.

Meanwhile, however, the detainees who were injured in the incident and admitted to Sittwe General Hospital have given a different account. According to them, one man who was frightened during the ongoing detention jumped over the fence and escaped.

Soldiers fired at the escapee and more than 200 others stood up to see what was happening. Unexpectedly, soldiers surrounded them from both sides and fired into the crowd, they said.

Of the 275 detainees, 126 were released on May 2 and 48 on May 6. With six shot dead, eight receiving treatment in hospital in Sittwe, and four missing, 83 are being held by the military at present, said Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun.

Rathedaung Township Lower House lawmaker Daw Khin Saw Wai encouraged the government to make the investigation into the case, expressing her doubts about the military's explanation of the events.

Locals said that Buddhist funeral rites were also denied for the victims.

"They should be allowed to be cremated according to Buddhist funeral rites. [Their family members] are quite sad that the funeral rites were not conducted," Daw Khin Saw Wai told The Irrawaddy.

An influential Buddhist monk from Sittwe was allowed to see the detainees on Monday, and Daw Khin Saw Wai and a party are travelling to Kyauktan Village on Tuesday with the approval of the government.

Civilians have been detained by both the military and Arakan Army troops in the clashes.

Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun told reporters on May 3 that the AA has detained 134 civilians.

On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch called for the Myanmar authorities to independently investigate the killing of the detainees, despite the military having formed their own team to investigate the incident. The rights group said the army has a long history of failing to effectively or credibly investigate alleged abuses by its own forces and rarely holds military personnel accountable.

"The Myanmar military concedes that they killed six villagers that they were holding in Rakhine State, but only a genuinely independent investigation will get to the bottom of what happened," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "An independent and impartial investigation is needed to bring to justice anyone responsible for wrongdoing."

The post Military to Investigate Deaths of 6 in Detention appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

India’s Modi Flies Over Cyclone-Ravaged East, Promises Millions to Rebuild

Posted: 06 May 2019 10:35 PM PDT

BHUBANESWAR, India—Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi saw for himself the damage wreaked by a powerful cyclone on Monday, pledging an extra 10 billion rupees ($144 million) to the hardest-hit state of Odisha, where hundreds of thousands returned home from shelters.

Cyclone Fani killed at least 34 people in India, destroying houses, ripping off roofs and knocking down electricity poles.

Early warnings from meteorologists helped authorities evacuate more than a million people from low-lying towns, minimizing the death toll from the strongest storm in 43 years to pummel India’s east coast.

Modi flew by helicopter over battered towns and villages where thousands of rescue workers and volunteers were sifting through the debris.

“Before the cyclone, we had released 381 crore (3.81 billion rupees) to Odisha and we will now give an additional 1,000 crore (10 billion rupees) for relief and rebuilding efforts of the state,” Modi said.

He also announced financial compensation for victims.

Modi said his officials would work closely with the state government to rebuild infrastructure.

Chief minister of the state, Naveen Patnaik, has demanded a long-term package worth 170 billion rupees from the central government to build disaster-resistant infrastructure, the state government said.

Modi, who is busy campaigning in India’s 39-day staggered general election, last week chaired meetings in New Delhi to oversee efforts to deal with the storm. India’s seven-phase election began on April and voters in Odisha have already cast their ballots.

Tens of thousands of people remained without electricity in the state capital Bhubaneswar and the Hindu temple town of Puri after the storm made landfall on Friday.

Power has been restored to airports and hospitals. Bhubaneswar airport had resumed flights, state government officials said.

In a letter addressed to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, pledged 1 million rupees ($14,400) to Odisha.

After battering India, Fani barrelled into neighbouring Bangladesh on Saturday as a much weaker storm, killing at least five people.

By Monday, more than a million Bangladeshis had returned to their homes from cyclone shelters, officials said.

The post India’s Modi Flies Over Cyclone-Ravaged East, Promises Millions to Rebuild appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘Very Pleased and Delighted’: Thai King Wraps Up Three-Day Coronation Events

Posted: 06 May 2019 10:13 PM PDT

BANGKOK—Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn greeted thousands of his subjects from a balcony of his Grand Palace on Monday, the third and final day of coronation ceremonies.

The king and queen were greeted with a band playing the royal anthem and a 21-gun salute.

The monarch and new Queen Suthida waved to a large crowd wearing yellow, the color associated with the king, and waving flags in a royal audience, a day after a grand procession through Bangkok.

“I and the Queen are very pleased and delighted to see all the citizens together to express goodwill for my coronation,” he told them in his speech, thanking citizens for their blessings and wishing them happiness and success.

“May the unity in expressing your goodwill to me today be a good start for everyone, every party to unify your duties for the prosperity of our country.”

The three branches of the armed forces saluted the king before the prime minister and the crowd chanted, “Long live the king!”

The king then met foreign ambassadors and thanked them for their attendance, concluding the coronation ceremonies.

The coronation started on Saturday, after a long period of official mourning for the king’s revered father, who died in October 2016 after having reigned for 70 years.

On Sunday, the king was carried through the streets on a gilded palanquin for the royal procession. Well-wishers, all wearing yellow, gathered from early morning along the 7 km (4 mile) route from the Grand Palace to three royal temples.

Since becoming king 18 months ago, Vajiralongkorn has moved to consolidate the authority of the monarchy, including taking more direct control of the crown's vast wealth with the help of the military government.

The post ‘Very Pleased and Delighted’: Thai King Wraps Up Three-Day Coronation Events appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Two Reuters Reporters Jailed in Myanmar Freed After More Than 500 Days

Posted: 06 May 2019 09:51 PM PDT

YANGON—Two Reuters journalists jailed in Myanmar after they were convicted of breaking the Official Secrets Act walked free from a prison on the outskirts of Yangon on Tuesday after spending more than 500 days behind bars.

The two reporters, Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, had been convicted in September and sentenced to seven years in jail, in a case that raised questions about Myanmar’s progress toward democracy and sparked an outcry from diplomats and human rights advocates.

President U Win Myint has pardoned thousands of other prisoners in mass amnesties since last month. It is customary in Myanmar for authorities to free prisoners across the country around the time of the traditional New Year, which began on April 17.

Reuters has said the two men did not commit any crime and had called for their release.

Swamped by media and well-wishers as they walked through the gates of Insein Prison, a grinning Wa Lone gave a thumbs up and said he was grateful for the international efforts to secure their freedom.

“I’m really happy and excited to see my family and my colleagues. I can’t wait to go to my newsroom,” he said.

Kyaw Soe Oo smiled and waved to reporters.

Before their arrest in December 2017, the two had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys by security forces and Buddhist civilians in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State during an army crackdown that began in August 2017.

The operation sent more than 730,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh, according to U.N. estimates.

The report the two men authored, featuring testimony from perpetrators, witnesses and families of the victims, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in May, adding to a number of accolades received by the pair for their journalism.

Calls to a spokesman for the Myanmar government were not immediately answered.

Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler said he was thrilled with the news.

“We are enormously pleased that Myanmar has released our courageous reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. Since their arrests 511 days ago, they have become symbols of the importance of press freedom around the world. We welcome their return," Adler said.

'Months of dialogue'

Myanmar’s Supreme Court had rejected the journalists’ final appeal in April. They had petitioned the country’s top court, citing evidence of a police set-up and lack of proof of a crime, after the Yangon High Court dismissed an earlier appeal in January.

The reporters’ wives wrote a letter to the government in April pleading for a pardon, not, they said, because their husbands had done anything wrong, but because it would allow them to be released from prison and reunited with their families.

The Reuters journalists were released at the prison to Lord Ara Darzi, a British surgeon and health care expert who has served as a member of an advisory group to Myanmar's government on reforms in Rakhine State, and a Reuters representative.

“This outcome shows that dialogue works, even in the most difficult of circumstances," Darzi said.

In a statement, Darzi said discussions about the pardon for Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo had involved the Myanmar government, Reuters, the United Nations and representatives of other governments but did not provide more details.

Darzi had informed Reuters this year of his efforts to secure the release of the two and the company was grateful for his role in making it happen, a Reuters spokesman said.

Darzi has been a member of an advisory commission that was formed to see through the advice from a panel headed by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan on solving the long-running conflict in Myanmar's western region in the state of Rakhine.

Rakhine State, on the Bay of Bengal, was the home to most Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. Hundreds of thousands fled to Bangladesh after a military-led crackdown on the region in 2017.

The post Two Reuters Reporters Jailed in Myanmar Freed After More Than 500 Days appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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