The US embassy in Yangon expressed concern Wednesday over the “highly irregular” arrest of two Reuters journalists in the Myanmar capital.
The journalists — identified by Reuters as Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo — were arrested Tuesday evening “after they were invited to meet with police officials,” the embassy said.
“For a democracy to succeed, journalists need to be able to do their jobs freely. We urge the government to explain these arrests and allow immediate access to the journalists,” an embassy statement said.
Reuters President and Editor-in-Chief Stephen Adler called for their immediate release. He said they were “reporting on events of global importance” and were taken into custody during the course of that work.
“We are outraged by this blatant attack on press freedom,” Adler said in a statement.
Myanmar’s Ministry of Information said in a statement on its Facebook page that the journalists and two policemen face charges under the British colonial-era Official Secrets Act, according to Reuters. The 1923 law carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years, Reuters reported.
The reporters “illegally acquired information with the intention to share it with foreign media,” said the statement, which was accompanied by a photo of the pair in handcuffs, the news agency reported.
The statement said the reporters were held at a police station on the outskirts of Yangon, according to Reuters.
Wa Lone has worked for Reuters since last year and has covered a range of stories, including the Rohingya crisis in Rakhine state, according to the news agency. Kyaw Soe Oo joined Reuters in September.
Reuters said the pair were reporting on a military crackdown on the Rohingya minority.