Pence presses Myanmar leader to pardon Reuters journalists

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence urged Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi “multiple times" to pardon two Reuters journalists jailed in the country, according to a White House source.

Arrested in December 2017, Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were found guilty in September of Official Secrets Act breaches. They each were sentenced to seven years in prison. The reporters were working on a story about the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim villagers when they were arrested.

Pence reportedly spoke to Suu Kyi during an Asia summit in Singapore.

“He raised the case of two Reuters journalists in particular and raised the request that a pardon could be made,” a senior White House official told reporters on condition of anonymity. “They had a very candid exchange of views on that.”

The source declined to comment on responses from Suu Kyi.

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