Whistleblower’s testimony stays

Defiant defendant: Wa Lone speaking to the media after a court hearing in Yangon. — Reuters

YANGON: The judge in the trial of two Reuters journalists in Myanmar has rejected a prosecution request to throw out the testimony of a police whistleblower who told the court that the reporters, facing charges of possessing state secrets, had been set up by the authorities.

Police Capt Moe Yan Naing had contradicted other prosecution witnesses by declaring last month that his superior arranged for two policemen to meet reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo and give them documents described as “important secret papers” in order to arrest them for violating the law.