Two Myanmar journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, have been locked up in Yangon's Insein Prison for almost 500 days for allegedly "exposing state secrets".
This was the fate that befell them for recording and exposing the truth based on their investigation into the massacre of 10 Rohingya men and boys in northern Rakhine state in September 2017.
On Monday, the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting was handed to them and other Reuters staff for their "courageous coverage". While the award recognises their work which exposed the systematic expulsion and killing of Rohingya Muslims by the military and Buddhist villagers, the plight of the two young men stands as a reminder of how repressive the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi is, and how difficult, dangerous and risky it has been for journalists in Myanmar to report on conflicts and sensitive issues.
After finding a mass grave in the village of Inn Din in Rakhine, the two journalists risked their safety to gather testimony from perpetrators, witnesses and the families of the victims. They obtained three photos capturing key moments in the massacre. These proved vital and made it hard for the military to deny the truth.
However, they ended up getting arrested in December 2017 for possessing "secret state documents" which they said were handed to them by police at a meeting set up to frame them. Their colleagues later completed the story and Reuters published "Massacre in Myanmar" in February last year. In September, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for violating the country's colonial-era Official Secrets Act.
What happened to the two journalists has sparked fears among editors and reporters in the country of falling victim to intimidation and harassment by the government and military, along with their use of draconian and repressive laws against the media.
When the government of Ms Suu Kyi took power in early 2016, many hoped it would lead the country to a new era of press freedom after decades of severe restrictions against and repression of the media under military rule. But her government has proved to be a big disappointment.
As the government faces growing international criticism over the military campaign of ethnic cleansing in Rakhine, the use of legal threats against journalists has been escalating.
According to the findings of Athan, which advocates for freedom of expression, 44 journalists have faced trial under various controversial laws since Ms Suu Kyi's government came to power. Of those, many were charged under the defamation clause of the Telecommunications Law, which criminalises online defamation and hampers investigative reporting. The law has been used to stifle criticism of the government.
The civilian government must realise that harassing, intimidating and persecuting journalists will make it impossible for Myanmar to transform into a functioning democracy. It will worsen its image.
Ms Suu Kyi should push for a full presidential pardon for Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who were not among those 9,551 prisoners granted amnesty on Wednesday. The draconian laws should be amended so they will not be used to threaten and imprison journalists. Cracking down on the messengers merelydeprives the Myanmar public of their right to information.
