Myanmar Jails New Zealander for 2.5 Years over Buddha Insult Ad
A New Zealand bar manager and his two Myanmar colleagues were sentenced on Tuesday to two and a half years in jail by a Yangon court over using a Buddha image to promote a cheap drinks night.
Philip Blackwood, who worked at the VGastro bar in Yangon, was found guilty of insulting religion along with the bar's Myanmar owner and manager after the New Zealander posted the offending mocked-up photo of the Buddha wearing DJ headphones on Facebook.
The trio were sentenced to two years in jail for insulting religion through written word or pictures and a further six months -- both terms carrying the punishment of hard labor -- for breaching a local order including when a protest erupted outside the bar over the image posted in December.
Judge Ye Lwin said that although Philip Blackwood posted an apology, he had "intentionally plotted to insult religious belief" when he uploaded the image.
The ad triggered a minor storm of controversy in Myanmar, where surging Buddhist nationalism and religious violence has sparked international concern.
Source: Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/171825 |