Reuters reporters face Myanmar trial

YANGON, Myanmar — Two Reuters reporters accused of breaking Myanmar’s draconian secrecy law during their reporting of the Rohingya crisis must face trial, a judge ruled Monday,.

Myanmar nationals Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were both “charged under the state secrets act,” Judge Ye Lwin told the court, setting a first court date for July 16.

The pair have been held in custody for nearly seven months for pre-trial hearings. They were arrested in December and accused of possession of leaked sensitive material linked to security operations in crisis-hit Rakhine state.

Reuters says the pair are innocent and were simply doing their job by reporting on a massacre of Rohingya Muslims and has urged the judge to dismiss the case. But Lwin moved the case to trial.