Myanmar rally urges release of ‘Person of Year’ journalists

YANGON, Myanmar  — Several dozen journalists and activists have held a rally in Myanmar’s biggest city to mark the anniversary of the arrest of two reporters for the Reuters news agency who are among a group of journalists being honored by Time magazine as its “Person of the Year.”

The protesters wore T-shirts calling for the release of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who had reported on a brutal military-led crackdown on the Muslim Rohingya minority. They were arrested a year ago Wednesday and charged with illegal possession of official documents. The two, who were sentenced in September to seven years’ imprisonment, denied the charge and said they were framed by police.

Covers of some editions of Time’s next issue carry a picture of the men’s wives holding photos of their husbands. /ee