Seven soldiers were convicted on Tuesday 10 April in Myanmar (formerly Burma) and sentenced to ten years in prison for their participation in a massacre targeting the Muslim Rohingya people. The news was announced by the military itself and is unprecedented since the crisis began.

rohingya birmania — Rohingya refugees sheltering in Bangladesh © Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

The military denies the existence of an ethnic cleansing plan

"Four officers and three soldiers have been dismissed from their posts and convicted," General Min Aung Hlaing confirmed in a statement published on social media. The symbolic weight of the conviction is enormous, given that the Rohingya have been persecuted for many years now. It is worth noting that the first acts of violence date back to 2012 and that, to date, around 700,000 people have been forced to flee their lands.

CNN International ✓ @cnni

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Seven members of Myanmar's military have been sentenced to prison terms with hard labor for killing 10 Rohingya men last year, state-run media reports cnn.it/2ILsBnv

65 8 11 apr 2018 · Apri su X →

The military acknowledged that soldiers carried out a series of "summary executions", while denying that this had been planned as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign (a charge that has, however, been levelled by the United Nations). The Rohingya were, in any case, killed in cold blood even though they were already prisoners, which represents a flagrant violation of human rights.

The journalists who exposed the massacre are still on trial

The sentence handed down to the soldiers is linked in particular to events that took place in the village of Inn Dinn, a story that was brought to the attention of the entire world by the news agency Reuters. The two journalists who covered the story, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, were arrested last December in Myanmar and put on trial. Today brought the first ruling from the court: despite intense international pressure, the charges against them have been upheld — in particular that of "violating state secrets".

The New York Times ✓ @nytimes

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Reuters Journalists Will Face Trial for Work in Myanmar nyti.ms/2qryAqe

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"The court has decided to reject the defence's request to release the defendants," the judge declared before a courtroom packed with diplomats and journalists. The two reporters face up to fourteen years in prison: proceedings will resume on 20 April.

Myanmar, seven soldiers convicted for summary executions of Rohingya