Burma: Blogger sentenced to 10 year imprisonment for alleged involvement in poster campaigns calling for the release of political prisoners
Event- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Feb 4, 2010
- Event Description
On 2 February 2011, Kaung Myat Hlaing, 22, was sentenced to a 10 years prison sentence under the Electronics Act. Courts alleged that Kaung Myat Hlaing had been involved in various poster campaigns calling for the release of political prisoners in Burma prior to his arrest in April 2010. Kaung Myat Hlaing was arrested in 2010 in connection with the Rangoon bombings and was sentenced to two years in prison. It appears that his role as an underground blogger eventually came to the attention of authorities, whom in January 2011, brought him from his cell in Rangoon's Insein prison to stand in a closed court and hear the verdict. A family member said that Kaung Myat Hlaing had blogged under the name of Nat Soe ("dark angel') following the September 2007 uprising. Authorities had been looking for him since, he said, adding that "in 2010, he was arrested under the pretext of being connected to the bombings that he didn't have anything to do with. "He was interrogated for 10 days and authorities found out that he took part in the poster campaigns, sticking up posters on police and army trucks calling for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners. "He was not allowed to sleep and also denied food and water during the 10-day interrogation." Kaung Myat Hlaing joins nearly 2,200 other political prisoners in Burma's jails, more than 20 of whom are journalists. Whilst under interrogation, the family member said, he allegedly admitted to being a member of activist group The Best Fertiliser, which has organised a number of anti-regime campaigns in the past.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Torture
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 16.8
Longitude: 96.15
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 2 February 2011, Kaung Myat Hlaing, 22, was sentenced to a 10 years prison sentence under the Electronics Act. Courts alleged that Kaung Myat Hlaing had been involved in various poster campaigns calling for the release of political prisoners in Burma prior to his arrest in April 2010. Kaung Myat Hlaing was arrested in 2010 in connection with the Rangoon bombings and was sentenced to two years in prison. It appears that his role as an underground blogger eventually came to the attention of authorities, whom in January 2011, brought him from his cell in Rangoon's Insein prison to stand in a closed court and hear the verdict. A family member said that Kaung Myat Hlaing had blogged under the name of Nat Soe (__�dark angel') following the September 2007 uprising. Authorities had been looking for him since, he said, adding that "in 2010, he was arrested under the pretext of being connected to the bombings that he didn't have anything to do with. "He was interrogated for 10 days and authorities found out that he took part in the poster campaigns, sticking up posters on police and army trucks calling for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners. "He was not allowed to sleep and also denied food and water during the 10-day interrogation." Kaung Myat Hlaing joins nearly 2,200 other political prisoners in Burma's jails, more than 20 of whom are journalists. Whilst under interrogation, the family member said, he allegedly admitted to being a member of activist group The Best Fertiliser, which has organised a number of anti-regime campaigns in the past.