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A court convicts two Reuters journalists who reported on Rakhine killings

On 3 September 2018 a Yangon court convicted Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo under the Official Secrets Act after they reported on Inn Din killings. Rakhine 2017 is the neighbouring massacre-reporting row. In the causal graph this event weakens Democratic Resilience, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

On 3 September 2018 a Yangon court convicted Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo under the Official Secrets Act after they reported on Inn Din killings.

Context

Judiciary sat. She did not sit as the judge.

Rakhine 2017 is the neighbouring massacre-reporting row. 66d cases are a neighbouring speech-law row.

Myanmar’s State Counsellor (2016–2021) was de facto civilian head under the 2008 Constitution; she did not command the Tatmadaw’s autonomous ministries, write a Bangladeshi gazette, an ICJ merits judgment, or a 2026 Min Aung Hlaing amnesty. She has been detained since 1 February 2021; as of August 2026 she is under house arrest after sentence commutations, not in office. A Nobel lecture is not a clearance-operation order. An ICJ appearance is not a personal genocide conviction. A junta court sentence is not a finding that every charge was true. Allegation of a stolen 2020 count is not stored as a completed steal. A Panglong speech is not a nationwide ceasefire. A Reuters conviction is not a completed finding that the journalists planted evidence. A 2026 ICRC visit is not a release.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Aung San Suu Kyi

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.45 · verified

    Police charged. A court convicted. Her government did not stop the prosecution.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Reuters — Myanmar court jails Reuters reporters for seven yearsReuters · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Myanmar Law Information System — 1982 Citizenship Law remaining in force, 2016–Union Attorney General's Office Myanmar · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Union Attorney General's Office Myanmar carries the official instrument or communique. Reuters records the same dated act independently.

Established: a 3 September 2018 seven-year conviction of two Reuters reporters, independently reported, later pardoned.

Not established: that they planted evidence, or that she personally wrote the judgment.

A court convicted. Her government did not stop the prosecution. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies A court convicts two Reuters journalists who reported on Rakhine killings, not a later speech about A court convicts two Reuters journalists who reported on Rakhine killings.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. If a later repeal, stay, or successor instrument exists, it needs its own date and its own row. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to Police charged. A court convicted. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorAung San Suu Kyi
  2. contributed toFactA court convicts two Reuters journalists who reported on Rakhine killings
  3. weakensDrivers (2)Democratic Resilience
  4. strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). A court convicts two Reuters journalists who reported on Rakhine killings. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/mm-suu-reuters-2018

https://factrail.ai/facts/mm-suu-reuters-2018

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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