Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney plans to represent two investigative reporters who are on trial in Myanmar.
Clooney said Thursday that she will defend the two Reuters journalists who were arrested in December and have been denied bail.
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were taken into custody after reporting the massacre of 10 Rohingya men and boys in Myanmar. They are charged with violating the country’s Official Secrets Act and face a possible maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
Clooney said it is “clear beyond doubt” that the two are innocent and should be released immediately.
She said the results of the high-profile case will “tell us a lot” about Myanmar’s commitment to freedom of speech and the rule of law.
The case has been strongly criticized as an effort to intimidate the press, especially its coverage of the sensitive situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine state where the military is accused of massive human rights abuses against the Muslim Rohingya minority.
