The UN on Tuesday praised the release of two Reuters journalists jailed for r𓆉eporting on the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, but warned ওthat freedom of expression remains heavily restricted in the country.
The release of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo is "good news,&quoﷺt; United 🌳Nations human rights office spokeswoman, Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
"Of course, they should never hav𒁏e been arrested or convicted in the first place,꧑" she added.
Shamdasani noted that last year the rights office had♊ issued a set of recommendations aimed at improving free speech in Myanmar.
"No positiv𒀰e progress has been observed," in terms of implementing tho🉐se changes, she said.
"The situation for freedom of expression (in Myanmar) is dire," she ꦜadded.
The journalists were arrested in De♋cember 2017, a sign of Myanmar's deteriorating press freedoms under Nobel laureate a♉nd civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
They were convicted on charges of violating the official secrets act an🥂d sentenced to seven years𝔉 each.
At the tim♒e of their arrest, they had been reporting on a September 2017 massacre of 10 Rohingya Muslims in conflict-hit Rakhine state, where the Myanmar army forced some 740,000 of the stateless minority to flee over the border to Bangladesh.
They were freed in an amnesty that included mo♐re than 𓂃6,000 prisoners.
(AFP)
