Myanmar's top court rejects final appeal by jailed Reuters journalists

Myanmar's top court on Tuesday rejected the appeal of two Reuters reporters sentenced to seven years in jail for breaking the Official Secrets Act, in a landmark case that has raised questions about the country's transition to democracy.

"They were sentenced for seven years and this decision stands, and the appeal is rejected," Supreme Court Justice Soe Naing told a court in the capital, Naypyitaw, without elaborating.

Reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have spent more than 15 months in detention since they were arrested in December 2017, while investigating a massacre of Rohingya Muslim civilians involving Myanmar soldiers.

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Law officer Ko Ko Maung, representing the government, said they had been found in possession of secret documents that could have harmed national security.

A district court judge in Yangon found the two journalists guilty under the Official Secrets Act in September 2017 and sentenced them to seven years in prison.

(With inputs from Reuters)