Suu Kyi tries to save face with Myanmar reporters’ release

After relentless diplomatic pressure and global outrage,fallen democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi finally decided that a pardon for twoMyanmar journalists jailed for reporting on a Rohingya massacre was the onlyway to resolve an issue that has dogged her government for nearly 18 months.

Observers say the unexpected release of the two Reutersreporters was a political decision timed to save face for the country’scivilian leader, after a vigorous international campaign that saw Amal Clooneyjoin their legal team, Time magazine put the pair on their cover, andjournalism awards and honours pile up — including the prestigious PulitzerPrize.

   

A presidential pardon freed Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo,29, from prison on Tuesday to a media frenzy and messages of congratulationsfrom the White House to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The pair spent more than 500 days behind bars undercolonial-era state secrets convictions after probing the extrajudicial killingof 10 Rohingya Muslims during a military crackdown.

Global attention on the reporters and the damage alreadydone to the country’s reputation were “potentially costly” to thegovernment, said independent analyst Richard Horsey.

Nobel Laureate Suu Kyi — already seen as a pariah by manyfor perceived complicity in the Rohingya’s plight — provoked outcry when sherefused to intervene, insisting “rule of law” must be followed.

The abrupt decision to release the pair this week was madebecause Myanmar’s leaders had “taken into consideration the long-terminterest of (the) country”, said government spokesman Zaw Htay.

Retired Thai diplomat Kobsak Chutikul, who has worked in anadvisory capacity to Suu Kyi’s government, told AFP that senior officials hadall known a pardon must be granted at some point but “nobody felt theycould bring this up with her”.

Political timing was also a factor, observers say.

Myanmar is due to go to the polls next year and this was achance to “get it out of the way” beforehand rather than riskovershadowing the vote, Kobsak said.

Behind the international condemnation, backroom diplomacyappears to have played a key role in convincing Suu Kyi to pardon thereporters.

One man waiting among the crowds outside the gates ofYangon’s notorious Insein Prison was British health expert Lord Ara Darzi,whose name barely came up during regular media coverage of the saga.

A close confidant of Suu Kyi, he has regularly visited thecountry over the past two years in an advisory role on a Rakhine statecommission.

But he has known the leaders for years, and hosted her inLondon after her release from house arrest.

“From what I hear, he finally found the opportunity toconvince Suu Kyi this was an albatross hanging round their necks,” saidKobsak, who served alongside Darzi on another Myanmar government commission.

The discussion would have taken place “behind thescenes, in quiet conversations in her house”, he added.

Darzi later hinted about his role to reporters at a pressconference following the journalists’ release.

“The lesson is simple: dialogue works even in the mostdifficult of circumstances,” he said.

Presidential pardons are traditionally granted around theMyanmar new year in April.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were freed in the third amnesty injust over a week that saw a total of 23,000 prisoners released.

The pair were handed a seven-year jail sentence lastSeptember, upheld first by Yangon’s High Court and then the country’s SupremeCourt last month.

Reuters maintained the duo were imprisoned in retaliationfor their expose, while legal experts argued the case was riddled withirregularities.

With the judicial process having run its course all the wayto Myanmar’s top court, Suu Kyi “may have been convinced the twistedpassage of justice had been served,” Yangon-based analyst David Mathiesonsaid, calling her change of heart a “political calculation”.

Despite the release, observers warn against reading too muchinto prospects for greater press freedom in the beleaguered democracy, whichbegan a troubled transition from military rule in 2010.

“The pardon will not change the conditions thatjournalists (in Myanmar) are facing,” said activist Cheery Zahau.

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