Journalists' Release in Myanmar Is a Victory for Press Freedom. But the War on Truth Isn't Over

The two figures were first spotted by a photographer who arrived early on the scene, with a telephoto lens through the gates of a Yangon prison on May 7. One man’s signature thick-rimmed glasses confirmed it: The award-winning Reuters journalists whose arrest had become a global cause were finally free.

In the 511 days since their arrest, Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, had become two of the world’s most visible symbols of the fight to protect press freedom.

The two figures were first spotted by a photographer who arrived early on the scene, with a telephoto lens through the gates of a Yangon prison on May 7. One man’s signature thick-rimmed glasses confirmed it: The award-winning Reuters journalists whose arrest had become a global cause were finally free. In the 511 days since their arrest, Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, had become two of the world’s most visible symbols of the fight to protect press freedom.