Myanmar hands blogger 20-year prison sentence

By Associated Press
Monday, November 10, 2008

YANGON, Myanmar - A court in military-ruled Myanmar sentenced a prominent blogger to more than 20 years in jail today for his Internet activities.

In another trial Monday, a court sentenced a poet to two years’ imprisonment for concealing the text of an anti-government slogan in one of his works.

Blogger Nay Phone Latt, 28, was arrested in January this year and given 15 years under the Electronics Law, two years for "creating public alarm," and 3 1/2 years under the Video Act, said Aye Than, his mother. One of his offenses was possession of a banned video.

The government exercises strict control over all public media, so dissidents often use the Internet to circulate information.

Aye Than said she was not allowed to attend the trial and Nay Phone Latt was not represented by his defense lawyer, Aung Thein, who began serving a four-month prison sentence for contempt of court last Friday.

"My son is a computer expert and he has not violated any criminal law. It is very unfair that he was given 15 years’ imprisonment under the Electronics Law for a crime he did not commit," said Aye Than.

A friend of Nay Phone Latt who was arrested with him was sentenced Monday to 2 1/2 years for creating public alarm, she said.

In a separate case, poet Saw Wai was sentenced Monday to two years in jail, also for creating public alarm, said a colleague who asked not to be named for fear of retribution.
He was arrested in January for publishing a Valentine’s Day poem, "February 14," in a popular weekly entertainment magazine.

The first word of each line in the eight-line poem spelled out the phrase: "Power Crazy Senior Gen. Than Shwe," a reference to the leader of the country’s ruling junta.

A spokesman for the opposition National League for Democracy party described Nay Phone Latt, a former party member, as "a young and intelligent blogger and computer expert."

"The government is expediting the trials of political prisoners and many have been given lengthy prison sentences," said Nyan Win, spokesman for the party, whose leader Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is under house arrest.

Nyan Win said party youth member Tun Tun Naing, who was arrested last year, was given 19 years in prison on Friday.

Many prominent activists connected to the mass pro-democracy demonstrations that took place in August and September last year have recently been brought to trial, though the proceedings have not generally been public.