Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday backed the jailing of two Reuters journalists in her first public comments on the controversial case since the men were sentenced earlier this month. "They were not jailed because they were journalists, they were jailed because...the court decided they had broken the Official Secrets Act," she told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Hanoi. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were sentenced to seven years after being convicted of breaking the colonial-era Official Secrets Act. They were arrested in Yangon last year for being in possession of what were called confidential papers relating to security operations in Rakhine State. But compelling evidence in the trial suggested the papers had been planted on them and that the men had been framed. The ruling caused international uproar and drew fierce criticism.
It was widely seen as the authorities taking revenge on Reuters for their reporting on the Rakhine crisis which has seen the country accused of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority and of ethnic cleansing. In her comments, Suu Kyi said she had read the ruling herself and questioned whether those criticising it had done the same. She said the journalists could always launch an appeal. In other comments the formerly much-lauded Nobel Peace Laureate said her priority for the run-up to the next election, in 2020, was to secure peace and prosperity for Myanmar.