The Pulitzer-award winning Reuters journalists who were sentenced to seven years of jail now await presidential pardon as the Myanmar Supreme court rejected their latest appeal.
Reporters Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, have been behind bars since their arrest in December 2017 under the Official Secrets Act.
Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi was approached by rights groups to use her influence, but she has so far refused to intervene in the judicial process.
The two journalists were convicted of possessing classified documents relating to security operations in Rakhine during a brutal military crackdown against the Rohingya that forced some 740,000 to flee over the border into Bangladesh. Colleagues of the journalists came out and defended them saying that the duo had been framed.
“Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo did not commit any crime, nor was there any proof that they did,” Reuters Chief Counsel Gail Gove said in a statement following Tuesday's ruling.
“Instead, they were victims of a police set-up to silence their truthful reporting. We will continue to do all we can to free them as soon as possible.” Several governments and human rights groups have expressed their condemnation against their sentence.
The initial ruling in September was upheld by the Yangon High Court in January.
“They upheld the ruling of the lower court.” Supporters believe the pair were punished for investigating a massacre of 10 Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar's western Rakhine state in September 2017. The team won the Pulitzer for the story.
Soldiers involved in the massacre in Rakhine that were investigated by the journalists were arrested.
Myanmar's armed forces insist the brutal campaign in Rakhine was a justified means to root out Rohingya militants.
