80 US lawmakers seek release of jailed Myanmar reporters

WASHINGTON – More than 80 U.S. lawmakers have urged the Trump administration to step up efforts to win the release of two Reuters journalists jailed in Myanmar for reporting about massacres against Rohingya (ROH’-hihn-jah) Muslims.

Republican and Democratic House members say it’s the latest example of erosion of press freedom in Myanmar. In a letter publicized Monday, they called for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to raise the issue with the nation’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi (ahng sahn soo chee), and to publicly call for the journalists’ immediate and unconditional release.

Wa Lone (wah lohn) and Kyaw Soe Oo (jahw soh oo) were sentenced to seven years imprisonment on Sept. 3 for possessing state secrets. They had reported on the army’s brutal counter-insurgency campaign that drove 700,000 Rohingya to Bangladesh.