YANGON: A former columnist for state media has been jailed for seven years for "abusive" Facebook posts about Myanmar chief Aung San Suu Kyi, a court legitimate stated on Wednesday, the newest case threatening unfastened expression in the nation.
Ngar Min Swe used to be sentenced for sedition on Tuesday, Yangon's Western District Court spokesman Htay Aung instructed AFP.
"He was convicted... for writing abusive posts on Facebook against State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, making people get the wrong impression of her," Htay Aung stated.
Myanmar has already faced standard condemnation for infringing on freedom of expression following the jailing earlier this month of two Reuters newshounds who reported at the Rohingya disaster.
Ngar Min Swe worked as a columnist underneath the previous military-backed govt.
Since Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party rose to power in 2016, he has written posts towards her and the party.
He used to be arrested on July 12, the similar day he posted about Suu Kyi receiving a kiss at the cheek from US President Barack Obama during his talk over with in 2013.
The risk free gesture came in for complaint from a conservative Myanmar public, particularly supporters of the army-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party -- like Ngar Min Swe, who took to social media to lob sexist jibes at Suu Kyi.
Facebook is wildly well-liked in Myanmar but users who have hit out at senior leaders of the army or civilian govt have faced jail time. Independent analyst David Mathieson stated the sentence is yet any other instance of "the strangulation of free speech" in the nation.
"Myanmar is in free-fall to resurgent autocracy and imprisoning journalists for colonial-era sounding 'sedition' is yet another warning sign," Mathieson instructed AFP.
Under the junta, Myanmar robotically jailed newshounds and activists but gradually unfolded from 2011 and promised greater freedoms for the media. But supporters of Suu Kyi have been disappointed lately by way of the deterioration of human rights within the nation, most particularly in the jailing of the Reuters newshounds Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo who had uncovered a bloodbath of Rohingya Muslims committed by way of infantrymen.
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt promised to raise the Reuters case in meetings with Suu Kyi this week during a high-profile talk over with during which he would go to Rakhine state, the epicentre of the Rohingya disaster.
Hunt's talk over with comes because the UN has referred to as for the Myanmar navy to be held answerable for the "genocide" committed towards the Muslim minority.
Ngar Min Swe used to be sentenced for sedition on Tuesday, Yangon's Western District Court spokesman Htay Aung instructed AFP.
"He was convicted... for writing abusive posts on Facebook against State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, making people get the wrong impression of her," Htay Aung stated.
Myanmar has already faced standard condemnation for infringing on freedom of expression following the jailing earlier this month of two Reuters newshounds who reported at the Rohingya disaster.
Ngar Min Swe worked as a columnist underneath the previous military-backed govt.
Since Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party rose to power in 2016, he has written posts towards her and the party.
He used to be arrested on July 12, the similar day he posted about Suu Kyi receiving a kiss at the cheek from US President Barack Obama during his talk over with in 2013.
The risk free gesture came in for complaint from a conservative Myanmar public, particularly supporters of the army-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party -- like Ngar Min Swe, who took to social media to lob sexist jibes at Suu Kyi.
Facebook is wildly well-liked in Myanmar but users who have hit out at senior leaders of the army or civilian govt have faced jail time. Independent analyst David Mathieson stated the sentence is yet any other instance of "the strangulation of free speech" in the nation.
"Myanmar is in free-fall to resurgent autocracy and imprisoning journalists for colonial-era sounding 'sedition' is yet another warning sign," Mathieson instructed AFP.
Under the junta, Myanmar robotically jailed newshounds and activists but gradually unfolded from 2011 and promised greater freedoms for the media. But supporters of Suu Kyi have been disappointed lately by way of the deterioration of human rights within the nation, most particularly in the jailing of the Reuters newshounds Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo who had uncovered a bloodbath of Rohingya Muslims committed by way of infantrymen.
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt promised to raise the Reuters case in meetings with Suu Kyi this week during a high-profile talk over with during which he would go to Rakhine state, the epicentre of the Rohingya disaster.
Hunt's talk over with comes because the UN has referred to as for the Myanmar navy to be held answerable for the "genocide" committed towards the Muslim minority.
Former columnist jailed for 'abusive' posts on Suu Kyi
![Former columnist jailed for 'abusive' posts on Suu Kyi]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
September 19, 2018
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