Pompeo calls for release of all jailed journalists in Myanmar
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday called for the release of all jailed journalists after Myanmar freed two Reuters journalists who had reported on the Rohingya crisis.
"The United States welcomes the decision in Burma to release Reuters journalists Wa Lone & Kyaw Soe Oo, freeing them to return to their families following over 500 days of imprisonment," Pompeo tweeted.
"We hope to see the release of other imprisoned journalists and greater freedom of expression," he said.
Myanmar released two Reuters journalist, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo who were 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.
Before their arrest in December 2017, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo 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.