Prominent human rights lawyer Amal Clooney has joined the legal team representing two Reuters journalists detained in Myanmar.
A court in Yangon has been holding preliminary hearings since January to decide whether Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, will be charged under the colonial-era Officials Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.
Clooney said the journalists, who are accused of possessing secret government papers, “should be released immediately”.
The pair had been working on a Reuters investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state during an army crackdown that began in August.
Lawyers for the two journalists on Wednesday asked the court to throw out the case, saying there was insufficient evidence to support charges against the pair.
“Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are being prosecuted simply because they reported the news,” Clooney, who is married to actor George Clooney, said in a statement released by her office.
“I have reviewed the case file and it is clear beyond doubt that the two journalists are innocent and should be released immediately.
“The outcome of this case will tell us a lot about Myanmar’s commitment to the rule of law and freedom of speech.”
Zaw Htay, a spokesman for Myanmar’s civilian government, declined to comment. Government officials have previously denied the arrests represent an attack on press freedom, which rights advocates say is under growing threat in the south-east Asian country.
Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, Hau Do Suan, said last month the Reuters journalists were not arrested for reporting a story, but were accused of “illegally possessing confidential government documents”.
The Reuters chief counsel, Gail Gove, said retaining Clooney would strengthen the company’s international legal expertise and broaden efforts to secure the release of the journalists.
The pair have been in custody since their arrest on 12 December. They have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some rolled-up papers at a restaurant in northern Yangon by two policemen they had not met before, having been invited to meet the officers for dinner.
The district court in northern Yangon will hear arguments from prosecutors and defence lawyers on the motion to dismiss the case on 4 April.