The House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for the release of jailed Burmese Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. The vote came as journalists and press freedom advocates marked the first anniversary of the journalists’ imprisonment after they were arrested while investigating a massacre committed by the Burmese military targeting Rohingya Muslims in the village of Inn Din. They were sentenced to seven years in prison. In Yangon, more than 100 Burmese journalists rallied this week calling for their release.

Tha Lun Zaung Htet: “The government’s job is not to protect the military. The government is ignoring the fact that it needs democracy to develop the country the right way. Instead, the government is protecting a human rights violation committed by the army.”

On Monday, the journalists were honored as part of Time magazine’s Person of the Year feature, which was dedicated to persecuted journalists around the world.