Myanmar: SOGI rights defender sentenced on terrorism charges
Event- Country
- Myanmar
- Initial Date
- Jun 28, 2023
- Event Description
Myanmar’s military junta this week sentenced a male LGBTQ activist to 10 years in prison on Wednesday on charges of terrorism, activists and students told Radio free Asia.
Justin Min Hein, president of the LGBTQ Union in the country’s central Mandalay region, was a leader of several anti-junta activities including a strike, flash protests, and other organized campaigns in Mandalay prior to his arrest. He was convicted of violating the Anti-Terrorism Act, said activist Saw Han Nway Oo.
She said Justin Min Hein was in poor health.
“I'm worried about him as he often gets stomach aches,” the source said. “I am sure he must have a stomach ache from time to time. I know that he cannot be in good health inside prison as the food provided is very bad. He won’t be comfortable inside, either.”
Justin Min Hein was arrested by the junta on September 24, 2022 and had been detained in Yay Kyi Ai Interrogation Center for almost a year awaiting his trial, she said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- Freedom of expression
- Offline
- Right to liberty and security
- Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- SOGI rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 16.81495954895216
Longitude: 96.14703961883014
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 28 June 2023, Justin Min Hein, SOGI rights defender and pro-democracy protest leader, was sentenced to prison on terrorism charges after over one year spent in pretrial detention for his role in the anti-coup movement by a court in Yangon, Myanmar.