A Myanmar judge on Monday said the verdict in a case involving two local Reuters journalists accused of illegally obtaining classified documents related to conflict-riddled Rakhine State will be handed down on Aug. 27.

Judge Ye Lwin announced the date after lawyers from the two sides presented their final arguments at the trial at Yangon Northern District Court, which was attended by around 60 people including diplomats.

During the hearing, the prosecution urged the judge to find the two journalists -- Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28 -- guilty of violating the colonial-era Official Secrets Act by acquiring confidential military documents with the intention of harming the state, a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

(Reuters journalist Wa Lone exits a police van after arriving at Mingaladon township court in Yangon, Myanmar, on Dec. 27, 2017)

The defense team argued the journalists were set up by the police and begged the judge to show them mercy, taking into account their relative youth, their ethical and moral integrity, and the fact that they have young children to care for.

They were arrested with some classified documents in their possession on Yangon's outskirts last December, after meeting a police officer who served in Rakhine when violence took place there.

Both journalists had pleaded not guilty to the charge, arguing that they were targeted for exposing extrajudicial killings of Rohingya Muslims by the military in Rakhine.

Myanmar has been under increasing pressure from the United Nations and the international community over alleged atrocities committed by its security forces against Rohingya Muslims living in the western state.

According to the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, more than 720,000 Rohingya Muslims fled from Rakhine to neighboring Bangladesh since the latest round of violence erupted in August last year.

They fled to escape a harsh crackdown launched by the Myanmar government in reprisal for attacks by an armed Rohingya faction against government security posts.