The EU's diplomatic chief on Thursday condemned Myanmar's jailing of two Reuters journalists, hours after the country's tarnished democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi strongly defended the men's treatment.
A court in Myanmar jailed Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo for seven years last week for breaching the country's hardline Official Secrets Act while reporting on the Rohingya crisis.
The trial was widely seen as a bid to muzzle the press, and the reporters' harsh sentences have attracted a chorus of international criticism.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini repeated a call for the reporters' immediate, unconditional release, saying they had not had a fair trial.
"Many observers saw this trial as a test of freedom of the media, democracy and the rule of law in the country. It is pretty clear that the test was failed," Mogherini told the European Parliament.
"The sentence will also intimidate other journalists who could fear undue arrest or prosecution for doing their job."
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