so much. people have to be accountable. and. this is. coming up on the free at last. in prison. why did they. cost the lives of hundreds of. look at the tragedy. and stress. and.

welcome. it's good to have you with us to reuters journalists who have been jailed for their reporting of the crisis and have been freed from prison they had been convicted of violating the official secrets act and sentenced to seven years imprisonment they were arrested in december twenty seventh then a massacre of mostly men by the army received numerous awards including the pulitzer prize. and who have now been given their freedom under a presidential amnesty. over campaign for their release this is the moment they

walk free of the young on prison that have held them for more than five hundred days in the middle of that media scrum don't have this to say this guy in the freezer and also there on the wall people wishing to really says i wanted to say thank you very much i'm really happy and excited to see my family and my colleagues and i can weigh in my use right now that i think you know. but before the trip to the newsroom the two journalists had an emotional reunion with their wives and young daughters the wives of lone and just who have been tireless campaigners for their release they attended the reporters final appeal of the supreme court after that for the text of last month they wrote a letter to the government pleading for a pardon on compassionate grounds. well known in case became

a rallying point for press freedom in myanmar freedoms that activists say under threat in the country agenda reports from human rights watch said the decline in press freedom under the new government has been particularly striking the new government here refers to the government led by me and mas de facto leader aung san suu chain the nobel laureates government has no shortage of roles to use against journalists the committee to protect journalists has compiled a list of what you've called me and mas and t. press laws there's a twelve rolls listed including the official secrets act under which one known and when prisons for more i'm joined by daniel bastar from reporters without borders in bad as the asia pacific desk of the organization daniel good to have you with us if i can just also at the outset what does the release of wallowing and who mean for press freedom in myanmar. well it is

a great victory for press freedom in myanmar of course we have been demanding the release of what i just saw for almost a year now how because there is actually no legal ground on which they would have been arrested and convicted. so of course this is a victory because one of the just so we are now able to know what free and to not meet with a family again but. the divvy three means going off and big us because they are released on a pardon so that civilian authorities can make a show of claim and scene but are their conviction is still has been upheld by the high court and the supreme court which creates a very. dreadful legal precedent for all investigative journalist across myanmar and speaking of precedents not rights groups have said in the past that

this government with aung san suu two years a de facto leader has been cracking down on freedom of expression and freedom of the press do you think that is likely to get worse as we go along. it's quite hard to say. when we look at the the world press freedom index that we have a shivery your i.q. voters without borders you can see that between two thousand and thirteen and two thousand and seventeen myanmar went up twenty positions in the index and then after two thousand and sixteen two thousand and seventeen when also two key came into power. myanmar position dropped down six places in two thousand and eighteen and another place at least here so you see that the democratic transition in yemen is really at a crossroads and press freedom is really what what will indicate

where myanmar is heading towards going back to a military authoritarian regime are continuing the conversation to democracy very briefly then if you can do you see based on your experience so far that the government has a tall committed to upholding press freedoms as they move ahead. very honestly i doubt it i hope it is but from what journalists on the ground in myanmar from what your marriage journalist tell me. the there was only just so case as at a very chilling effect and self-censorship now is the rule for many journalists to myanmar keep your mouth shut don't get into trouble appears to be the we're moving into the future daniel bostock from reporters without borders speaking to us from paris thank you so much. it was called the world's most

complicated election and now it appears as if may have also been one of the deadliest indonesians went to the polls three weeks back to elect a president and norco and regional representatives have actions were spread across the country with seventeen thousand islands and three time zones but for some election workers the stress of being part of such a big exercise was too much. for the town of cmdr and west java indonesia's election was an occasion to mourn they lost one of their own election workers until. he earned around thirty three euros helping to stage indonesia's mammoth election last month and work himself to exhaustion his wife says it triggered a stroke and he died three days later. no doubt but over some studies again my husband didn't complain about anything but i

think you do know he was healthy he was happy and he lost track of time. but he had passed the day before the election he stayed overnight at the polling station. all the way through until two pm on election day. this year's election was dubbed the world's biggest single day vote presidential parliamentary regional am boucle elections combined an effort to reduce costs workers manned more than eight hundred thousand polling stations with five ballots for each voter that equates to millions of ballot sheets all counted by hand. but that the job is with us and we started working at six am. at seven the polling station opened better to better deal then at one pm it was all finished. look at

that after we prayed we continued the counting yes up we had to look for the names of the candidates one by one they had off and also from which party. this one charlie finding all the names was actually the most strenuous task i don't know my name on it we are so but that is it the others are not and. some of that i go to cuba a job a task that pushed many workers over the edge. more than two thousand have been hospitalized mostly due to overwork. and more than three hundred have died. the election workers were under severe physical and psychological stress as they were working in difficult conditions some outdoors in the wind and rain this happened due to fatigue physical and psychological. that. the election commission says it plans to compensate families of the deceased workers you know that there are around one year's pay at minimum wage.

if you've ever wanted to visit the korean demilitarized zone you can do that again now has reopened the joint security area in the border village of. off of a six month hiatus officially taken to facilitate joint efforts by circle. to demilitarize the border so what does a visit to the d.m.z. said look like now. if you were among the tourists who went to support the pomp and circumstance during the public tour of the into korean truth. you'd have been disappointed. if you were hoping to catch a glimpse of the iconic face off between north and south korean soldiers they're still here but there's a notable difference they no longer amit. what you'll feel here in panama is is a different vibe what once was a viable tension is now

a viable peace we've taken away the way in mines we've ensured that the side has been do you mind we've taken the weapons out of the towers our guards no longer carry weapons and i think that what you'll see here is a police that can foster trust building confidence that hopefully can spread across the korean peninsula. so the weapons are missing from the simile a picture but the signature dark sunglasses remain. visit is keen to capture the moment on camera a priceless memory in a symbolic location. this is the place that always visualized that decades old conflict between the communist state and its southern neighbor and it's like kim jong un and mangy in this historic summit last year one handshake setting off a whirlwind of diplomacy and fueling hopes for real progress on the korean peninsula. tourists and those station permanently at the d.m.

said say that progress can be felt. relieved before coming here i was quite nervous but being here i realise it's actually more peaceful here i can resonate with the word peace for. peace however is yet to be achieved diplomatic exchanges between seoul and young have significantly cooled in recent months. but through the eyes of tourists at least the into korean border is far more relaxed than it was before oh they're going to cause a fire and that story on our website dot com. be sure to check out our facebook page as well. that's it today we need your dollar with the two voices just to see who walked free. after more than five hundred days. is your next time.

here's what's coming up on the going to sleep you'll have plenty to talk about here now as commentator look up what all that means for the table of course. the fund is legal every weekend here on t.w. . shifting powers the old order is history the world is religion

izing itself and the media's role is keep the topic in focus at the global media forum twenty nineteen today one out of two people is online who will be following whom do we trust to beijing and shape the future at the georgia dome a global move for twenty nine. along bells are ringing i am as chief christine legarde calls the china u.s. strike tensions these threats to the world economy of the don't trump threatened press terrified song monday and the u.s. delegation says trade talks went quote substantially backwards. this is business as . the head of the international monetary fund has been urging the united states and china to set aside their differences on trade for soon the god made the comments in

paris at a gathering. of ministers in france washington is accusing beijing of backsliding on its commitment to head off than expected trade deal this week slapping new tariffs on chinese goods just as a trade deal looked likely more uncertainty markets were bullied by news that a chinese delegation would be headed to washington for a final round of trade talks but then the u.s. side revealed why president trump had increased tariffs on billions of dollars worth of chinese goods accusing beijing of bad faith for the stewards of the world economy the stakes could not be higher in paris i.m.f. chief christine legarde issued a stark warning she said clearly that tensions between the united.