Free expression advocates warned of "grave threats" to those who challenge the Myanmar armed forces.
And here, following his Facebook posts on February 15 and March 23, which criticized the country' 2008 military-drafted constitution, a Myanmar filmmaker was sentenced to a year in prison with hard labor.
Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi who is also an activist, was sentenced under a law that criminalizes incitement by publishing statements causing "fear or alarm" to the public.
What he did, was making comments about Myanmar that gifts the armed services three-quarters of parliamentary seats and control of three ministries despite an ostensible transition to civilian rule.
His lawyer, Robert San Aung, said that Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi who has been jailed since April, was convicted under section 505(a) of the Penal Code, which criminalizes anyone making, publishing or sharing "any statement, rumor or report" that might induce any military service member "to mutiny or otherwise disregard or fail in his duty".
This is considered an offense punishable by up to two years in prison.
Speaking to the reporters, Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi said that:
"Everyone is worrying because I have received one year in jail, but I want to say, don’t worry because I will return from prison, and I will continue my work."
Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi was one of a number of activists arrested in recent months in cases that flew under the radar after the high-profile release from prison of Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo in May.
The two reporters were convicted in 2018 for violating state secrets after revealing a massacre of Rohingya Muslims.
They were freed by presidential pardon after spending more than 500 days behind bars.
Myanmar is also known as Burma. The country in Southeast Asia is bordered by India and Bangladesh to its west, Thailand and Laos to its east and China to its north and northeast.
For most of its independent years, the country has been experiencing one of the world's longest-running ongoing civil wars, with the UN and other organizations reporting consistent systematic human rights violations in the country.
The constitution of Myanmar was drafted by its military rulers and published in September 2008. The country is governed as a parliamentary system, with an executive President accountable to the legislature, and with 25% of the legislators appointed by the military and the rest elected in general elections.
Following the 2010 general election, the military's grip was dissolved, and replaced by civilian government. This, along with the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners, has improved the country's human rights record and foreign relations, and has led to the easing of trade and other economic sanctions.
However, criticisms of the government's treatment of ethnic and religious minorities are still present.
When Myanmar ended its five decades of military-dominated government in 2016, following Aung San Suu Kyi in taking office, the constitutional provisions adopted under military rule still ensures the army to keep its major role in government.
This was considered as one of the causes liberalization of restrictive press laws did not happen in Myanmar. With free speech restricted, reporters and activists are continuing to face legal challenges under laws covering defamation and online activities.
