An imprisoned Myanmar policeman provided more information in court Wednesday about how two Reuters journalists were allegedly framed by police, a case that has become a decisive test for press freedom in the Southeast Asian country.

Police Captain Moe Yan Naing, who was ordered to serve one year in jail for violating the Police Disciplinary Act, testified his sentence was intended to intimidate any other officers who are considering telling the truth.

The office provided a detailed account of how a police chief allegedly ordered subordinates to give "secret" documents to two reporters who are being tried on charges of possessing state secrets.

Wednesday's testimony by Moe Yan Naing comes after his initial testimony April 20, when he said his colleagues helped frame the reporters.

Moe Yan Naing's lawyer, Than Zaw Aung, told VOA Burmese that his legal team is encouraged by Wednesday's testimony.

Wa Lone, center front, and Kyaw Soe Oo, centre ba FILE - Reuters journalists Wa Lone, center front, and Kyaw Soe Oo, center back, are escorted by police as they return to their trial after a lunch break at the court in Yangon, Myanmar, April 20, 2018. FILE - Reuters journalists Wa Lone, center front, and Kyaw Soe Oo, center back, are escorted by police as they return to their trial after a lunch break at the court in Yangon, Myanmar, April 20, 2018.

His testimony increased hope that reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo will be acquitted of the charge, which is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

The reporters had been covering a military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine state that the United Nations says forced the evacuation of 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to neighboring Bangladesh during the past eight months.

The United Nations, the United States and Britain have denounced the crackdown as ethnic cleansing, a charge the Myanmar government denies.

When the reporters were arrested in December, they were looking into an investigation of the killings of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys that occurred during the crackdown.

The United Nations launched an appeal in March for $951 million to help the Rohingya refugees for the remainder of 2018, but the world body said at the end of April that it was only 9 percent funded.</s>(This version of the May 9 story has been refiled to fix grammatical errors in paragraphs 9, 14)

Detained Police Captain Moe Yan Naing (C) escorted by police arrives for a court hearing in Yangon, Myanmar May 9, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer

By Shoon Naing and Thu Thu Aung

YANGON (Reuters) - A Myanmar policeman now serving a prison sentence gave more details to a court on Wednesday about how he says two Reuters reporters were framed by police, in what has become a landmark press freedom case for the Southeast Asian nation.

Police captain Moe Yan Naing, 47, who since his original testimony on April 20 has been sentenced to a year in jail for violating police discipline, gave a blow-by-blow account of how he says a police chief ordered subordinates to give “secret” documents to Reuters reporter Wa Lone in a sting operation.

Follow latest updates on detained reporters here

“I gave the testimony as I know and as I saw,” Moe Yan Naing told reporters after the hearing. He said he did not regret giving his testimony.

Lead prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung did not respond to a request for comment after the hearing.

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay said: “It will be carried out according to the law. The court is free, impartial, independent and reliable. We guarantee that the defendants will have their own rights, which means choosing their own lawyers etc.”

The court in Yangon has been holding hearings since January to decide whether Wa Lone 32, and his Reuters colleague Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, will be charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

At the time of their arrest in December, the reporters had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in a village in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state. The killings took place during an army crackdown that United Nations agencies say sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

DOCUMENT TRAP

In an account that closely followed his original testimony, but went into greater detail, Moe Yan Naing said that on Dec. 12 - hours before the reporters were arrested - he was among six officers who had previously been contacted by Wa Lone who were interrogated by the Police Special Branch.

The internal investigation was led by Police Brigadier General Tin Ko Ko, according to Moe Yan Naing.

When Tin Ko Ko found out that one of the six, Lance Corporal Naing Lin, had been in contact with Wa Lone but had not met him in person, he ordered Naing Lin to use his phone to arrange a meeting with Wa Lone that evening.

“I know that Police Brigadier General Tin Ko Ko instructed Police Lance Corporal Naing Lin to give Wa Lone documents related to our frontline activities in order to have him arrested,” Moe Yan Naing told Judge Ye Lwin, overseeing the proceedings.

Moe Yan Naing said Tin Ko Ko told the policemen involved that if they did not “get Wa Lone” they would be detained.

Reuters has been unable to contact Tin Ko Ko or Naing Lin for comment. A police spokesman said after Moe Yan Naing’s previous testimony that the brigadier general “has no reason to do such a thing”.

FAMILY EVICTED

Prosecutors had originally called Moe Yan Naing as a witness, but asked the court to declare him unreliable after his testimony appeared to undermine their case. The judge rejected that application last week.

Moe Yan Naing was brought to court in shackles and wearing a dark blue prison uniform, in contrast to his first appearance last month when he had worn his police captain’s uniform and was not handcuffed.

He said he had been convicted and sentenced in his absence and still did not know which court had handed down the punishment.

Moe Yan Naing has said he spoke to Wa Lone in late November about police operations in Rakhine. He said Wa Lone introduced himself as a reporter and interviewed Moe Yan Naing at a teashop inside the headquarters of the 8th Police Security Battalion.

Slideshow (7 Images)

Moe Yan Naing’s 42-year-old wife, Tu Tu, listened to proceedings from the side of the courtroom. Together with their three children, she was evicted from police housing in the capital Naypyitaw the day following Moe Yan Naing’s first testimony. The family have since moved in with Moe Yan Naing’s father in his native town of Khin U, in central Myanmar.

Police have said the eviction was unrelated to the reporters’ case, but that the family had been overdue to move out of their apartment.

Wa Lone told journalists after the hearing that Moe Yan Naing “bravely proved that in our society, there are people who adore the truth and justice”.</s>YANGON, Myanmar — A Myanmar police officer who testified that his colleagues helped frame two reporters being tried on charges of possessing state secrets said Wednesday his subsequent jailing was intended to intimidate any other officers thinking of telling the truth.

Police Capt. Moe Yan Naing had his hands shackled and was wearing blue prison clothing as he appeared in court for the second time. After he gave his surprise initial testimony last month, he was sentenced to a year in jail for violating the Police Disciplinary Act and his family was forced to vacate their police housing unit.

His testimony boosted hope that Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo would be acquitted of the charges, under which they could be imprisoned for 14 years. They had been covering the brutal counterinsurgency operation in Myanmar's Rakhine state that drove 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.

"Putting me in prison is meant to threaten other policemen who want to tell the truth," Moe Yan Naing told reporters on his way back to jail after testifying Wednesday. "No one should be jailed for telling the truth."

The prosecution had tried to have his testimony thrown out but the judge last week rejected the motion.

Moe Yan Naing was detained on Dec. 12 last year, the same day the journalists were arrested. His jail sentence was nominally for having spoken earlier without permission to Wa Lone about his duties in Rakhine. The subject is sensitive because the military's actions there have come under harsh criticism internationally, including charges that it was carrying out ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya.

In response to questioning by defense lawyer Than Zaw Aung, Moe Yan Naing said he and Wa Lone met at a teashop in his police force compound, and that Wa Lone didn't ask for any secret documents from him, and that other officers under his command also said they had not been asked for secret documents.

He also testified that the documents that police put in the hands of the two reporters covered past activities and were prepared by a police computer operator to entrap the reporters, to be handed over to them at the order of his superior, a police brigadier general.

"Today what Moe Yan Naing testified is how Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were trapped," the defense lawyer told reporters after the court session. "We are more hopeful."

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo both expressed appreciation for his testimony as they talked to reporters before being returned to Insein Prison.

"He is very brave and respects the law. So we are very happy for what he testified as I totally believe that it was truth," said Wa Lone. "And we hope for him and us that the truth and justice will be coming soon. I want to say that he bravely testified to show that there are people who love justice in our society."</s>A Myanmar police officer who testified in court that two Reuters reporters had been framed said Wednesday that his jailing was intended to prevent others from speaking out.

Police Captain Moe Yan Naing appeared in a Yangon court along with reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo who have been detained under Myanmar's colonial-era Official Secrets Act since Dec. 12.</s>An imprisoned Myanmar policeman provided more information in court Wednesday about how two Reuters journalists were allegedly framed by police, a case that has become a decisive test for press freedom in the Southeast Asian country.

Police Captain Moe Yan Naing, who was ordered to serve one year in jail for violating the Police Disciplinary Act, testified his sentence was intended to intimidate any other officers who are considering telling the truth.

The office provided a detailed account of how a police chief allegedly ordered subordinates to give "secret" documents to two reporters who are being tried on charges of possessing state secrets.

Wednesday's testimony by Moe Yan Naing comes after his initial testimony April 20, when he said his colleagues helped frame the reporters.

Moe Yan Naing's lawyer, Than Zaw Aung, told VOA Burmese that his legal team is encouraged by Wednesday's testimony.

His testimony increased hope that reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo will be acquitted of the charge, which is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

The reporters had been covering a military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine state that the United Nations says forced the evacuation of 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to neighboring Bangladesh during the past eight months.

The United Nations, the United States and Britain have denounced the crackdown as ethnic cleansing, a charge the Myanmar government denies.

When the reporters were arrested in December, they were looking into an investigation of the killings of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys that occurred during the crackdown.

The United Nations launched an appeal in March for $951 million to help the Rohingya refugees for the remainder of 2018, but the world body said at the end of April that it was only 9 percent funded.</s>YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — A Myanmar police officer who testified that his colleagues helped frame two reporters being tried on charges of possessing state secrets has said his subsequent jailing was intended to intimidate any other officers thinking of telling the truth.

Police Capt. Moe Yan Naing testified again Wednesday, with his hands and feet shackled and wearing blue prison clothing. After he gave his surprise testimony last month, he was sentenced to a year in jail for violating the Police Disciplinary Act.

His testimony boosted hope that Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo will be acquitted of the charges, under which they could be imprisoned for 14 years. They had been covering the crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine state that drove 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.</s>YANGON
• A Myanmar policeman now serving a prison sentence gave more details to a court yesterday about how he says two Reuters reporters were framed by police.

Police captain Moe Yan Naing, 47, who since his original testimony on April 20 has been sentenced to a year in jail for violating police discipline, gave a blow-by-blow account of how he says a police chief ordered subordinates to give "secret" documents to Reuters reporter Wa Lone in a sting operation.

"I gave the testimony as I know and as I saw," Moe Yan Naing said after the hearing.

SEOUL
• Disgraced former South Korean president Park Geun Hye briefly left prison to receive medical care at a hospital in Seoul yesterday.

Park was convicted of corruption and jailed for 24 years last month. The 66-year-old has been allowed out of prison several times for treatment for ailments including a toe injury and backache since her arrest in March last year.

Yonhap news agency said she will be treated for her chronic back pain.

CHENNAI (India)
• Garment workers in south India are to receive counselling to help them cope with problems from work pressure to sexual harassment after a series of deaths in factories and hostels, a local official said yesterday.

Most of the those working in the US$42 billion-a-year ($56 billion) export industry are young women living in hostels far from home and forced to work long hours and endure sexual and verbal abuse. Twenty have died in the last three months in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, a garment manufacturing hub, many in suspected suicides.</s>Pol. Capt. Moe Yan Naing who was given a one-year prison term for violating the police disciplinary code said on May 9 at his court appearance, “Truth must not be imprisoned.”

Two Reuters reporters were produced before the court on their 17th hearing on May 9 in the morning at Yangon north district court and Pol. Capt. Moe Yan Naing was examined as a non-hostile prosecution witness.

Pol. Capt. Moe Yan Naing, wearing a convict’s uniform, handcuffs and shackles, said his sentence was intended to threaten any other police officers from telling the truth in the future.

Pol. Capt. Moe Yan Naing was sentenced to one-year imprisonment on April 30 for alleged violation of the police disciplinary code.

He was sentenced for giving an interview to two Reuters reporters, Walone and Kyaw Soe Oo, while he was on duty at No. 8 Police Security Force.

Pol. Capt. Moe Yan Naing said the two Reuters reporters had been set up in the case which was orchestrated by Pol. Brig. Tin Ko Ko.
Myanmar police captain Moe Yan Naing testifies in court for the second time during the trial of Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, which has become a landmark case of press freedom in the country. Naing accused his superior, police brigadier general Tin Ko Ko, of orchestrating a plot to entrap the journalists and threatening Naing and his colleagues with arrest if they did not "get Wa Lone". Naing was arrested for violating Myanmar's Police Disciplinary Act and sentenced to a one-year prison term prior to his testimony.