Social media platforms have filled with images of supporters making the “thumbs up” gesture that became a hallmark of the pair’s court appearances. “The government can detain us in the prison but… don’t close the ears and eyes of the people,” Kyaw Soe Oo said. One of the Time covers shared widely online features Pan Ei Mon and Kyaw Soe Oo’s wife Chit Su Win holding photos of their imprisoned husbands. ‘Sham’ trialThe reporters’ trial was widely regarded as a sham — and punishment for reporting on the September 2017 massacre in Inn Din village led by Myanmar security forces. One whistleblowing police officer told the court his superior ordered a sting to entrap the reporters — testimony the judge chose to ignore.

Source: Egypt Independent December 12, 2018 13:07 UTC