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Jailed Reuters Journalists Freed From Myanmar Prison

© REUTERS / Ann WangReuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo gesture as they walk free outside Insein prison after receiving a presidential pardon in Yangon, Myanmar, May 7, 2019. REUTERS/Ann Wang
Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo gesture as they walk free outside Insein prison after receiving a presidential pardon in Yangon, Myanmar, May 7, 2019. REUTERS/Ann Wang - Sputnik International
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Two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested in December 2017 and accused of breaking Official Secrets Act for reporting on Rohingya crisis.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo walked free from a prison on the outskirts of Yangon on Tuesday, after spending more than 500 days behind bars, Reuters reports citing witnesses.

Prison chief has reportedly confirmed that the two journalists have been freed, according to AP.

Earlier the president's office said in a statement, that Myanmar would release 6,520 prisoners in an amnesty on Tuesday, according to Reuters.       

READ MORE: Myanmar Supreme Court Rejects Final Appeal of 2 Reuters Journalists — Report

President Win Myint pardoned thousands of prisoners in two mass amnesties last month.

It is customary in Myanmar for authorities to free prisoners around the time of the traditional New Year, which began on 17 April, according to a Reuters report.   

The two reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo had been convicted in September and sentenced to seven years in jail. 

Before their arrest in December 2017, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys by security forces and Buddhist civilians in western Myanmar's Rakhine State during an army crackdown that began in August 2017, Reuters report says.

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