Facebook users who share viral posts identifying a man involved in a row over parking at Yangon’s Yuzana Plaza as a military officer will face prosecution, Myanmar’s army has said.
In recent messages posted on the social media site, a man named Bo Bo Myo Thant described an altercation between himself and U Naing Yar Kyaw, who he describes as an amy officer.
The military-run newspaper Myawady Daily said in a report this week that U Naing Yar Kyaw did not belong to the armed forces but to a Mon ethnic arm and, by law, non-state militias cannot use the term “officer”.
Legal action was threatened against anyone who “defames” the army by posting about the dispute, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported.
In recent months, several Myanmar citizens have been jailed over Facebook posts deemed to insult the military.
In December, Chaw Sandi Htun was sentenced to six months in prison over a satirical comment on the new army uniform, while Kachin activist Patrick Khum Jaa Lee was given the same sentence in October for a post allegedly mocking the military leader.
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