Wa Lone facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Wa Lone
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| ဝလုံး | |
Wa Lone in 2018
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Wa Lone
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| Spouse(s) | Pan Ei Mon |
Wa Lone (Burmese: ဝလုံး) was born around 1986 in Myanmar. He is a journalist for Reuters and also writes books for children. He became well-known when he and another reporter, Kyaw Soe Oo, were arrested in Myanmar in December 2017. They were investigating an event called the Inn Din massacre.
Their arrest caught the attention of people all over the world. Many believed it was meant to stop journalists from reporting important stories. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo received many international awards for their brave work. This included being named among Time magazine's Persons of the Year in 2018. Groups like Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders asked for their release.
In April 2019, they won the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Press Freedom Prize. They also received the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were finally released from prison in May 2019. This happened after the president of Myanmar gave them a special pardon.
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Wa Lone's Early Life
Wa Lone grew up in a family of rice farmers in a village called Kinpyit in Myanmar. This village is north of Mandalay. Around 2004, he moved to Mawlamyine. There, he lived at a Buddhist monastery where his uncle was a monk. He helped clean and prepare food in exchange for a place to stay.
In 2010, Wa Lone and his brother moved to Yangon, Myanmar. They started a business taking photos. Wa Lone also spent time helping others through volunteer and charity work.
Wa Lone's Journalism Career
Wa Lone started his career as a reporter for local newspapers. One of these was the weekly People's Age. In 2014, he joined the Myanmar Times. He then started working for the Reuters news agency in 2016.
Wa Lone was always thoughtful and conscientious, and very committed to his work as a journalist. -- Thomas Kean, Myanmar Times
Wa Lone reported on many important events in Myanmar. He covered conflicts under military rule. He also reported on the historic election of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi in 2015. In 2017, he reported on the murder of a well-known politician named Ko Ni.
In 2017, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo reported on a large movement of people. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people moved from Myanmar to Bangladesh. This happened because of actions by the Burmese military.
The Reuters team braved considerable danger to document the atrocities perpetrated against the Rohingyas. But for its efforts, one of the biggest humanitarian disasters of our times would not have been made known to the world. -- SOPA
Investigating the Inn Din Massacre
In late August 2017, there were attacks on the Rohingya people in Rakhine State, Myanmar. Many Rohingya homes in a village called Inn Din were burned. Because of this, many villagers fled to the mountains. On September 1, 2017, soldiers and other armed groups held ten Rohingya men. These men had reportedly gone to the beach to find food. The next morning, they were shot and killed. Their bodies were buried in a mass grave.
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were investigating this mass grave in Inn Din. They talked to Buddhist villagers and security officers. They gathered stories and photos about the event. Their goal was to uncover the truth about what happened.
Arrest and Time in Prison
How Wa Lone Was Arrested
On December 12, 2017, police officers from Myanmar's police force arrested Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. This happened at a restaurant in Yangon. The police had invited them to dinner.
The journalists said they were arrested right after police gave them some documents. The police had never met them before. The police later said the journalists were arrested outside Yangon. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were accused of having secret documents. This was against an old law from the colonial era. This law could lead to a 14-year prison sentence.
Reuters, the news agency Wa Lone worked for, asked for their immediate release. Reuters said the journalists were arrested because they were investigating the mass grave in Inn Din. After a court hearing in February 2018, Reuters shared all the findings from their journalists' investigation.
The Entrapment Claim
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A police captain named Moe Yan Naing was arrested on the same day as the journalists. He was a witness for the prosecution in court. On April 20, 2018, he said that he and his colleagues were told to trick the journalists. He testified that their bosses ordered them to give "secret documents" to the journalists at the restaurant. He also said that he and other officers were threatened with prison if they did not make the arrests.
A police spokesperson later said that Naing was "speaking based on his own feelings." They said his testimony "cannot be assumed as true." Naing's family was forced to leave their police housing. Naing himself was sentenced to a year in prison for breaking police rules.
On May 2, 2018, a judge said Naing's testimony was believable. The judge allowed Naing to share more information a week later. On May 9, 2018, Naing testified that a police general planned the trick to arrest Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. He said the general threatened him and his colleagues.
The Trial and Verdict
On July 9, 2018, a court officially charged the two journalists. They were accused of getting secret state documents. This meant their case would go to a full trial. The journalists said they were not guilty. They promised to prove their innocence.
On September 3, 2018, the court found Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo guilty. They were sentenced to seven years in prison.
Global Reactions to the Sentence
Many countries and organizations spoke out against the prison sentence. The U.S. ambassador to Myanmar, Scot Marciel, said the decision was "deeply troubling." The British ambassador, Dan Chugg, said the United Kingdom and the European Union were "extremely disappointed." He felt the judge ignored evidence and Myanmar law.
Aung San Suu Kyi, a leader in Myanmar, defended the court's decision. She said, "If we believe in the rule of law, they have every right to appeal the judgment."
Appeals and Release
The journalists' lawyers filed an appeal on November 5, 2018. They argued that the court ignored evidence that the police set up the journalists. They also said the prosecution did not prove the crime. This first appeal was rejected on January 11, 2019.
On February 1, 2019, the journalists filed another appeal with the Supreme Court of Myanmar. The Supreme Court heard the case on March 25, 2019. However, on April 23, this appeal was also rejected.
Human rights groups like Amnesty International and PEN America continued to support Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. Amnesty International believed their arrest was an attempt to stop investigations into military actions against the Rohingya people.
Finally, on May 7, 2019, both journalists were released from prison. This happened after President Win Myint gave them a pardon. They had been in custody for over 500 days.
Awards for Wa Lone's Work
Wa Lone has received many international awards for his journalism. Here are some of them:
- 2016: Honorable mention for Excellence in Reporting Breaking News (with others) from SOPA.
- 2017: Honorable mention for Excellence in Reporting Breaking News (with others) from SOPA.
- 2018: SOPA Award for Public Service Journalism (with others).
- 2018: Included in Time magazine's Persons of the Year. This award recognized several journalists as "guardians" in a "war on truth."
He received the following awards jointly with Kyaw Soe Oo:
- 2018: Foreign Affairs Journalism category and Global Investigation of the Year at the British Journalism Awards.
- November 26, 2018: Journalists of the Year at Foreign Press Association Media Awards, London.
- 2018: PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write award from PEN America.
- 2018: Osborn Elliot Prize for excellence in journalism from Asia Society.
- 2018: International Journalists of the Year, One World Media Awards.
- 2018: James Foley Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism, Northwestern University.
- 2018: Don Bolles Medal from Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE).
- 2018: Aubuchon Press Freedom Award from National Press Club (United States).
- 2019: UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.
- 2019: Pulitzer Prize.
Wa Lone's Children's Books
Wa Lone has written several children's books. These books are published in English and local languages. In 2015, he wrote a book called The Gardener. This book teaches about being kind to others and caring for the environment.
While he was in Insein Prison, Wa Lone wrote another children's book. It is called Jay Jay the Journalist. The main character is a young boy who is very curious. He looks for answers when plants and animals in his village start dying. The books aim to help children think critically. They also introduce kids to what journalists do.
The Third Story Project, a non-profit group, published Jay Jay the Journalist. This group gives free books to children in Myanmar who need them. Wa Lone helped start this non-profit in July 2014. He is also working on a second Jay Jay book. This new book will have a strong girl as a main character.
Wa Lone's Family Life
Wa Lone's wife, Pan Ei Mon, helped him stay in touch with the outside world while he was in prison. Their first child was born in August 2018. Both Pan Ei Mon and Kyaw Soe Oo's wife, Chit Su Win, faced difficulties after their husbands were arrested.
