YANGON • Two Reuters journalists in Myanmar, accused of breaking a state secrets law while investigating a massacre of Rohingya Muslims, face another week of uncertainty after the verdict in their trial was delayed yesterday.

Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, have been detained in Myanmar's Insein prison since December in a case that has sparked a global outcry.

The reporters had been investigating the September 2017 killing of 10 Rohingya Muslims in conflict-scarred Rakhine state, a week after Myanmar's military launched a sweeping crackdown on members of the stateless Muslim minority.

They were invited to dinner with police in Yangon, handed some documents, then arrested as they left the meeting and accused of possessing classified material on operations in the area. The pair were charged with violating the state secrets Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years.

The expected ruling at the court in northern Yangon had drawn a crowd of diplomats, well-wishers and media, some wearing T-shirts with the words "Journalism is not a crime".

But District Judge Khin Maung Maung said the presiding judge was ill and the verdict would be announced on Sept 3.

Wa Lone told reporters as he left the court that they were not afraid, whatever the decision. "We have the truth with us, and we did not do anything wrong," he said.

The case has sparked fears of eroding press freedoms under civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose international reputation has been tarnished by the treatment of the Rohingya.

Defence lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said the delay could be linked to global developments on Myanmar. A United Nations fact-finding mission's report on rights abuses in the country was released yesterday, and the UN Security Council will discuss the Rohingya crisis today.

Reuters has robustly denied the charges. The defence has said the supposedly secret documents had already been published, and the prosecution case hit a hurdle when a police witness said his superior had ordered his men to entrap the two journalists.

Reuters said in a statement yesterday: "Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have already spent more than eight months in prison based on allegations of a crime they did not commit. We look forward to receiving the verdict next week, when we very much hope that they will be acquitted and reunited with their families."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE