November 24, 2015

5 Myanmar Men Fined for Printing 'Rohingya Calendar’

YANGON — A Yangon court has used a printing and publishing law to fine five men USD$800 each for their involvement in printing a calendar that stated that Rohingya Muslims are an ethnic-religious minority living in Myanmar.

Pazundaung Township police chief Maj. Khin Maung Lat informed Myanmar Now of the sentence, handed down Monday evening, adding that police charged the men Saturday. A sixth suspect remains at large.

The 2016 calendar mentions the word Rohingya and contains a statement that there used to be a “Rohingya radio channel” in the 1950s Burma of Prime Minister U Nu. It said U Nu himself had publicly used the word Rohingya.

“This is an activity that threatens the law and order of the country,” Khin Maung Lat said in an interview at his office. He added that an investigation was started after police heard about the calendar “on Facebook.”

The men were charged with breaking Article 4 of the 2014 Printing and Publishing Law, which bars individuals from publishing materials that could damage national security and law and order. It stipulates a fine of between $800 and $2,400.

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