Since 2014, at least five people have been arrested or deported for offending religion in Myanmar, a charge that when taken to court can result in up to two years imprisonment.
Myanmar, a largely Buddhist country, has enshrined the insult in its penal code. Although no specific religion is mentioned in the article of the code, the offenses have normally apply to Buddhism.
The case have varied. Two of them involved tattoos related to Buddhism. Another came from a speech. Yet another had to do with a post on Facebook. Some have gone to court while others have resulted in a trip right to the airport. Most have been foreigners but Myanmar nationals have not been exempt.
Here is a timeline of the major incidents.
September 2016
The most recent case came last week when a Dutch national identified as Klaas Haytema was arrested in Mandalay after he allegedly unplugged a loudspeaker used by monks on Friday night to broadcast a late sermon.
Soldiers reportedly had to be summoned to protect the tourist from an angry crowd that gathered outside his hotel, demanding he be turned over to them.
He was scheduled to appear in court today. As will be made clear from some of the previous cases, it does not bode well when charges are brought instead of an immediate deportation.
July 2016
A Spanish man and his wife were detained in the ancient city of Bagan after it was revealed that he had a tattoo of the Buddha on his leg.
“Monks in Bagan saw a Buddha tattoo on his right leg because he was wearing shorts. They informed us as it’s not appropriate,” a police officer in Bagan told AFP.
Whether he was technically deported or “advised” to leave, as one official later put it, is irrelevant. There have been several cases where deportations are not called deportations, even though police have driven the person or people in question to the airport.
December 2014
Some of these cases happened at a time when Myanmar’s Buddhist nationalists were riding high in terms of influence. So influential, in fact, that they could go after one of their own.
In a rare incident of a Myanmar national stumbling into trouble for offending religion, former NLD official and writer Htin Lin Oo was targeted after saying in a speech in October of 2014 that Buddhist and prejudice could not coexist.
Seems like a reasonable thing to say, but apparently not. He was arrested not long after and spent more than a year in jail before being released in an amnesty earlier this year.
December 2014
In perhaps the most widely followed case involving a foreigner, New Zealander Phil Blackwood was arrested, charged with offending religion and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. His offense? Using an image of a psychedelic Buddha on the Facebook page of the Yangon bar that he managed as part of a drinks promotion.
Blackwood admitted to posting the photo and apologized, saying he meant no offense. That did not save him or his two colleagues, Tun Thurein and Htut Ko Ko Lwin, who were also jailed.
The arrests were in late 2014 but the convictions came a few months later. An additional six months were tacked on to the sentences for a charge that relates to disobeying a public servant. He and his colleagues spent more than a year in jail before being freed in an amnesty in January. Blackwood was deported and went home to New Zealand.
August 2014
Canadian Jason Polley and his girlfriend got the boot after a local resident posted a photo of his Buddhism-themed tats and posted it to Facebook.
A number of police officers came to his hotel where he was staying in Inle Lake in the north.
“They said, ‘Why would you put these tattoos on your leg? You understand that you’re a Facebook star in Myanmar?”‘ he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in an interview.
According to the CBC, the two were put in a 15-hour cab ride to Yangon and put on a flight to Bangkok.
Editor’s note: If you want to bring any more cases to our attention, please email us at info@coconuts.co
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