we can now speak to phil robertson i will talk to him in just a little while. because i just want to bring this to you these are the words of the u.s. ambassador to me a mascot marcial he said it's deeply troubling for everybody who has struggled so hard for media freedom and the british ambassador to mia maher said he was extremely disappointed by the verdict now we can speak to phil robertson he's the deputy asia director of human rights watch he's in bangkok phil so much condemnation as to be expected human rights watch chief among them what exactly is human rights rights watch prepared to do to try to challenge this verdict. well i think we need to launch a global campaign working with media organisations and non-governmental organizations all around the world pulling in the governments pulling in the united nations and really make a common united front for the defense of these two journalists who clearly have been entrapped by the police but also for the larger principle of media freedom in myanmar because the situation is one where you know if there's no

been widespread condemnation we'll take a look at some of the tweets that are that are out there phil robertson is deputy asia director for human rights watch he's tweeted no words for this outrageous injustice against reuters reports as well low show show so so how can we in ma judicial system justify sending reporters doing their job to a longer prison sentence than the top of my down soldiers who killed the ten injured in this story in cold blood now here's a tweet from the humans resident and humanitarian coordinator in myanmar cannot be a free press is essential for peace justice human rights for all we are disappointed by today's court decisions. a bustin hearted things in me and was supposed to be so different with alex and suchi in charge of what's gone wrong well that's what everyone expected that she would she would really leave the country towards more freedom and democracy and that hasn't really happened or not to the degree that everyone expected especially now with this crisis that we're seeing where she's been many say complicit in denying that these atrocities that were committe

surveillance a lot more harassment of ordinary people i don't think you'll be missed at all frankly ok phil robertson many thanks for joining us there from bangkok thank you. opposition groups have rallied in the philippines against president proposed changes to the constitution and his races say to taze push to turn the country into a federal state will lead to a dictatorship the march in manila marks the forty sixth anniversary of the declaration of martial law under former president marcos activists have drawn strong links between the current and former leaders as. well saying in the philippines where rescue is a digging through the rubble of a landslide they say to say see at least twenty two people were killed when the mountainside collapsed on to villages thursday morning more than sixty people are reported to be missing the landslide was triggered by heavy monsoon rains just days after the northern philippines was battered by its most powerful typhoon this year . her going to florence has left its mark on the southeastern united states and there's danger lurking and is often enough rising floo

let's get more on this story now with phil robertson he is deputy director of human rights watch's asia division he joins us from bangkok phil thank you for being with us on our show now these two journalists are now set to go to jail for seven years what did you think of this verdict and what comes next for them well this verdict is outrageous it is entrapment these charges are bogus they should have never been tried in the first place really what this trial is about is trying to not only in prison these two leading ermes journalists but also to try to intimidate other journalists saying to them that if you work for an international press organisation don't assume that you're not going to be able to be touched by the military about the government you know but so what we know but the evidence that they had actually gathered you know how significant was their reporting here. well the report themselves with the reported sounds was very important but what was handed to them the document that was handed to them that they then were arrested with was something they didn't even read and which

here look at her for the way in and we'll come back to you through the shore let's cross over to phil robertson he's the deputy director at human rights watch joins me now from bangkok good to speak to you again phil this is been a long running case that you've been following very carefully as have many global capitals what's just your reaction to what you're hearing coming out of young dogs yes phil so robert here in doha can you hear me hopefully would like your reaction to the news you're getting out of young god i think the delay is a little bit sad. yeah this is really a hammer blow against media freedom it's quite clearly something that the burmese military wanted to see they wanted to have a case like this to intimidate other burm eastern analysts to stay away from issues related to human rights violations by the tatmadaw and. so i think that this is clearly a situation where the tatmadaw has won the day this is a system that has been. very close to the permanent military has done its dirty work in the past and you know we don't really see the kind of independence you share that we would

said seen now widespread condemnation particular from the west and we have a tweet here from phil robertson who's the deputy director of human rights watch who wrote no words for this outrageous injustice against reporters while on and just say wow kony and large additional system justify sending reporters doing their job to a longer prison prison sentence than the tatmadaw soldiers who killed the ten will hinge in their story in cold blood so boston you know how hard is it for journalists to do their job in this climate well even though this is the most high profile case it's not the only time or not the only case and recent years where journal. were arrested and tried for doing their job sensually and of course that it creates a climate of fear for journalists in myanmar and it makes force it makes them think twice about are they going to really touch on sensitive issues that might implicate the government or might implicate the military in respect to human rights violations for example that are taking place in the country and you could argue that that's the goal of these of these trials

phil robertson is the deputy director of human rights watch.lations with other countries in the region. 0bviously asean and china have played this non— interference game. unfortunately for them, relations with the government is more important than the relations with people of that country. quite clearly this is a major blow against press freedom in myanmar and it is something that will reverberate through the ranks of the local press for quite sometime, as intimidation and self—censorship take hold. indeed, a big blow to press freedom and the freedom of expression. how does this ruling now look for myanmar‘s democratic future? i think this is an indication that that democratic future is increasingly dimming. what we are seeing now is the erosion of the basic civil and political liberties that are so essential to any democracy. the right to speak out, the right to have a free press, the right to have a public protest. all of those are under threat now in aung san suu kyi‘s myanmar. so it could be said that aung san suu kyi is not really in contr

phil robertson is the deputy director of human rights watch.anmar courts, but why has there been silence from many asian countries, including china? 0bviously asean and china have played this non— interference against upbeat to them, relations with the government is more important than the relations with people of that country. quite clearly this is a major blow against press freedom in myanmar and is something that will reverberate through the ranks of the local press for quite sometime as intimidation and self—censorship take hold. for quite sometime as intimidation and self-censorship take hold. a big blow to press freedom and freedom of expression. how does this ruling now look for myanmar‘s in the practically to? i think this is an indication that that democratic future is dimming. —— myanmar‘s dramatic picture? what we are seeing is an eroding of independent sensibilities, the right to speak out, free press, to have a protest. all of those are under threat. so could be said that the sense that she is not really in control of myanmar, but

online that this is the end of whatever little freedom was left for the press in may i'm on now phil robertson from human rights watch he describes it. as a hammer blow against the media freedom in the hash tag that most people are using for this story can just see in the corner there at the bottom rather is free why known cows so those are the names of the reports now where it says has also tweeted this quote by the editor in chief it says there is a major step backwards in mia mas transition to democracy cannot be squared with the rule of law or freedom of speech now. another hash tag that's being used as part of this story is also part of an al-jazeera campaign we've been using because of our journalists that have been locked up in fact we have one that is in egypt in prison the moment that is journalism is not a crime now the committee to protect journalists has also come out on social media of course condemning that conviction now some are also reminding others to remember the two police officers they are now in prison for testifying in this case against the police force now one was capta