By Joshua Carroll
PAKOKKU, Myanmar
A Myanmar court sparked outrage from rights groups Thursday for sentencing four journalists and their newspaper’s chief executive to ten years with hard labor.
The five were convicted under the country’s colonial-era Official Secrets Act.
They were arrested in early February after the Unity Journal newspaper ran reports claiming the military had built a chemical weapons factory on 3,000 acres of seized land in central Myanmar’s Magwe district.
Several family members burst into tears after the verdict was read out at the courthouse Thursday in the central town of Pakokku.
The conviction has drawn condemnation from groups including Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
It is the most troubling setback yet for Myanmar’s much-lauded media reform efforts and follows the jailing of two other local journalists for three months each on separate occasions since December.
"This should be a wake-up call to the world that things haven't changed that much in Myanmar," David Mathieson of HRW told the Anadolu Agency on Thursday, "certainly not when it involves inquiring into the military’s secret projects."
Shawn Crispin, the CPJ’s representative in Southeast Asia, told the AA shortly before the trial that harsh sentences would reaffirm that "critical inquiry into the military’s operations [is] a no-go area" for reporters.
Myanmar’s journalists only recently began to enjoy a taste of press freedom. In 2011, President Thein Sein’s nominally civilian government took over after five decades of military rule and announced -- among other historic reforms -- that he would end pre-publication censorship.
Despite those reforms being loudly praised by governments including the U.K. and the U.S., campaigners have since been frustrated by the failure of Myanmar’s new western allies to speak out against recent backsliding.
Mark Farmaner of Burma Campaign U.K. told the AA this week, "Britain has a special responsibility to speak up for these journalists as it has been one of the main cheerleaders of President Thein Sein."
He described the conviction as "yet another step backward for press freedom" in Myanmar -- also known as Burma.
A spokesperson at the British Embassy in Yangon -- Myanmar’s main city -- told the AA before Thursday’s verdict that she was not aware of any plans to issue a statement on the Unity Journal trial.
The five men continued to rail against the law used to convict them as they were being led away from the courthouse in handcuffs, according to Wa Win Maung, a lawyer representing four of the sentenced.
"They are fearless," he told the AA, adding that he and other defense lawyers in the case would appeal the verdict.
Lu Maw Naing had only been a journalist for two weeks when he was arrested in early February. His wife has been left to care for seven children alone.
"It's been a struggle for the last six months without him," she told the AA. "Now I don't know what I'll do."
www.aa.com.tr/en
