YANGON: Two Reuters journalists jailed in Myanmar after they were convicted of breaking the Official Secrets Act walked free from prison on Tuesday after more than 500 days behind bars.

Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, had been arrested in December 2017 and sentenced to seven years in jail in September 2018 in a case that raised questions about Myanmar`s progress towards democracy and sparked an outcry from diplomats and human rights advocates.

They were released under a presidential amnesty for 6,520 prisoners. President Win Myint has pardoned thousands of other prisoners in mass amnesties since last month.

It is customary in Myanmar for authorities to free prisoners across the country around the time of the traditional New Year, which began on April 17.

Reuters has said the two men did not commit any crime and had called for their release.

Swamped by media and well-wishers as they walked through the gates of Inseln Prison, a grinning Wa Lone gave a thumbs up and said he was grateful for the internationalefforts to secure their freedom. `I`m really happy and excited to see my family and my colleagues. I can`t wait to go to my newsroom,` he said.

Kyaw Soe Oo smiled and waved to reporters. The two were then driven away by colleagues and reunited with their wives and children.

Before their arrest in December 2017, they had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys by security forces and Buddhist civilians in Myanmar`s Rakhine State during an army crackdown that began in August 2017.

The operation sent more than 730,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh, according to UN estimates.

The report the two men authored, featuring testimony from perpetrators, witnesses and families of the victims, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in May, adding to a number of accolades received by the pair for their journalism.

Government spokesman Zaw Htay said the decision to release the two was made after the families wrote to government leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

`We took the letters into consideration and released them in the interest of the country,` Zaw Htay told reporters.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was relieved to learn of the release, a spokesman said.

Myanmar`s Supreme Court had rejected the journalists` final appeal last month. They had petitioned the top court, citing evidence of a police set-up and lack of proof of a crime, after the Yangon High Court dismissed an earlier appeal in January.-Reuters