Myanmar woman gets 6 months for Facebook post on army
25-year-old jailed for post suggesting military chief wear Aung San Suu Kyi's sarong around his head due to both garments’ green tone
By Kyaw Ye Lynn
MAUBIN, Myanmar
A Myanmar court sentenced a young woman to six months in prison Monday over a satirical Facebook post deemed insulting to the military chief.
Chaw Sandi Tun – a 25-year-old better known as Chit Thamee -- was arrested on Oct. 12 after a post suggesting that Senior General Min Aung Hlaing wear Aung San Suu Kyi's sarong -- traditional skirt -- around his head as the color of the new army uniform matched the opposition leader's clothing.
"If you love mother that much, why don't you wrap mother's longyi on your head?" read the caption under photographs of the military chief and officers donning the vivid green uniform – a remark that offended the military of the patriarchal society.
The court in Maubin District in Ayeyawaddy’s delta region sentenced Chaw Sandi Tun on Monday under Section 66(d) of Myanmar’s 2013 Telecommunications Law, which carries a maximum of three years in prison.
Ei Ei San, her mother, told Anadolu Agency after the verdict that they had actually feared Chaw Sandi Tun receiving the maximum sentence.
“But the decision is not fair as she did not post that photo,” she said, adding that they would file an appeal in coming days.
The sentencing comes at a time when several Facebook users have recently been slapped with charges under the Electronic Transaction Law.
At least four other people were arrested and charged for satirical Facebook posts under the draconian 2004 legislation, amended in 2014, which carries a fine of between 5- and 10-million kyats ($3,400 – 7,800), or up to three years in prison for those unable or refusing to pay.
Following the arrests of Chaw Sandi Tun and a peace activist, Amnesty International had released a statement calling for their unconditional release, alongside that of at least 93 prisoners of conscience reported to be in detention.
Laura Haigh, the rights group’s researcher for the country, said that it was “outrageous to think that someone could face years in jail for nothing but a harmless Facebook post,” warning of a “growing number of prisoners of conscience in Myanmar.”
“Myanmar’s authorities have once again shown how dangerously thin-skinned and vindictive they are when it comes to criticism or ridicule,” she said in the Oct. 15 statement. “They might claim that the country has turned a corner on human rights, but this is yet another chilling reminder that the same repressive practices continue.”
Haigh expressed deep concern about how “authorities now appear to be moving their repression into the digital sphere” in a country where “rights defenders and political activists regularly rely on Facebook to share information and communicate.”
Myanmar has been ruled by military-backed governments for more than five decades, but Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won last month’s general election by a landslide
Many members of the outgoing government had retired from the military to join the new semi-civilian regime in 2011.
