SASC Chairman John McCain Calls for the Release of Reuters Journalists Detained in Burma
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement today calling for the release of two Reuters journalists who were arrested and formally charged in Burma:
“The outrageous arrest and prosecution of two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, call into question the Burmese government’s commitment to human rights and further risk Burma’s democratic transition. These journalists were jailed for doing their jobs by courageously documenting the gross atrocities being committed by the Burmese military against the Rohingya people. It is because of their work and the work of brave reporters like them that we now know the extent of the violence and persecution taking place in Burma’s Rakhine State, where an estimated 655,000 innocent men, women and children have been forced to flee in recent months. The United States must stand for freedom of the press everywhere, and demand the immediate release of these innocent individuals as well as all journalists unjustly imprisoned around the world.”
View the original press release HERE.
