Myanmar journalists to protest over arrest of Reuters reporters

A group of Myanmar journalistssaid they would begin wearing black T-shirts on Saturday inprotest at the detention of two Reuters reporters accused ofviolating the country's Official Secrets Act, as pressure buildson Myanmar to release the pair.

The Protection Committee for Myanmar Journalists, a group oflocal reporters who have demonstrated against past prosecutionsof journalists, decried the "unfair arrests that affect mediafreedom."

In a statement on Facebook, the committee said its memberswould don black T-shirts "to signify the dark age of mediafreedom" in Myanmar. They demanded the unconditional andimmediate release of the two reporters, Wa Lone, 31, and KyawSoe Oo, 27.

"Journalists all over the country are urged to take part inthe Black Campaign," the group said. It said it also planned tostage official protests and prayers.

It is unclear how much support the group has among Myanmar'sjournalists.

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The Protection Committee for Myanmar Journalists was formedin response to the arrest in June of a newspaper editor over thepublication of a cartoon that made fun of the military, saidvideo journalist A Hla Lay Thu Zar,one of the group's21-member executive committee.

"A reporter must have the right to get information and writenews ethically," said A Hla Lay Thu Zar in reference to the caseof the two Reutersjournalists.

Myo Nyunt, deputy director for Myanmar's Ministry ofInformation, told Reuters the case had nothing to do with pressfreedom.

"It's related to the Official Secrets Act," he said."Journalists should be able to tell what is secret and what isnot... We already have press freedom. There's freedom to writeand speak...There's press freedom if you follow the rules."

Asked about the local reporters' "black campaign."he said,"Everyone can express his feelings."

Pressure from across the world

The journalists disappeared on Tuesday evening after theywere invited to dine with police officers on the outskirts ofMyanmar's largest city, Yangon.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, UNSecretary-General Antonio Guterres, the president of theEuropean Parliament Antonio Tajaniand government officialsfrom Canada, Britain, Sweden, and Bangladesh, have all calledfor their release.

The two reporters had been working on Reuters coverage of acrisis that has seen an estimated 655,000 Rohingya Muslims fleefrom a fierce military crackdown on militants in western Rakhinestate.

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The ministry of information said the journalists had"illegally acquired information with the intention to share itwith foreign media,"and released a photo of the pair inhandcuffs.

Human rights advocates say press freedom is under attack inMyanmar, where the young civilian-led government of Nobellaureate Aung San Suu Kyi shares power with the military thatran the country for decades. At least 11 journalists have beendetained in 2017, although some have since been released.

Officials have declined to tell Reuters or the twojournalists' families where they are being held, saying onlythat they are being investigated under the 1923 Official SecretsAct, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.