A court in Loikaw handed down six-month prison sentences to six Karenni activists each on Thursday for calling Kayah State government officials that erected statues of General Aung San criminals and traitors.
The activists, having already served five months after being denied bail, will be released in two to four weeks.
In January, the state government clandestinely erected the statue in a park in the state capital’s city centre, despite demonstrations against the statue that had been ongoing since early the previous year.
In March, the six activists signed a statement calling Kayah State chief minister L Phaung Sho, planning and finance minister Maw Maw and members of the committee in charge of erecting the statue “political criminals,” “traitors of the Karenni national cause” and “enemies of ethnic unity”.
Karenni and other ethnic activists around the country have opposed plans in several states to erect statues of the Burmese independence leader, a move they see as reinforcing the majority ethnic Bamar’s cultural and political domination at the expense of minority representation.
On 16 May a Kayah state government official, representing the state government, filed a complaint under Section 8f of the Law Protecting the Privacy and Security of Citizens, which bans “unlawfully interfer[ing] with a citizen’s personal or family matters or act[ing] in any way to slander or harm their reputation”.
In her verdict, Judge Amy Win said that although every person has the right to speak or express themselves freely, no one should hurt the dignity of another person, insisting the activists insulted not only the state officials but also the dignity of the institutions they represent.
Saw Khu Talay, the activists’ lawyer, told Myanmar Now outside the court he still believes the charge has no standing because the privacy law only allows a citizen to act as a plaintiff, whereas in this case the plaintiff was the local state government.
Khu Kyu Hpe Kay, one of the six activists convicted Thursday, said the trial only emphasized the fact that the judiciary is heavily influenced by the NLD government.
“They’re persecuting ethnic minorities. It’s a political crime under the name of national equality. We’ve seen it with our naked eyes today,” he said as he left the court.
The other activists sentenced were Pya Lay, Myo Hlaing Win, Khun Thomas, Dee De and Khu Reedu.
Security was tight outside, where a crowd had gathered in support of the activists.
On February 12, Myanmar’s “Union Day”, hundreds took to the streets in protest of the recently-erected statue in Loikaw, demanding the minister and the chief minister step down.
Police responded with rubber bullets, leaving at least four protesters wounded.
Dissidents say it is more important to fulfil the promises of post-independence ethnic equality and self-determination Aung San made before his untimely assassination.
