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07-06-2016, 07:11 AM
YANGON: An official in Myanmar has been charged with defamation for referring to Aung San Suu Kyi with a slur parroted by the former junta she spent decades campaigning against, police said on Tuesday.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) swept historic polls in **vember, with the veteran activist vowing to expand freedoms she fought for while under house arrest for some 15 years.
But limits on free speech remain, as does a culture of charging critics with defamation -- a common play under the former military-backed administration.
On Monday a court in central Magway charged a planning official from Salin township over Facebook posts that referred to Suu Kyi with a racial slur used by the former junta to draw attention to her marriage to a British academic.
The government employee referred to Suu Kyi as the wife of a “kalar,” a derogatory term used to slander foreigners.
“He was arrested on Saturday and detained at our police station. He appeared at court yesterday,” Win Tin, a police ******r from Salin, told AFP.
Myanmar’s former military rulers attempted to seize upon Suu Kyi’s marriage to Michael Aris, who died in 1999, to undercut her ties to a country she grew up in but did **t return to until later in life.
But their efforts failed, and Suu Kyi received rapturous support from her countrymen during her years as an activist.
Suu Kyi, **w leading the first civilian government in nearly half a century, continues to enjoy a saint-like status by many in a nation brutalised by decades of repressive military rule.
The official in Magway was charged by a member of the local NLD ******, who said the post sparked anger in the community.
“He insulted the country’s leader... if we did **t file a lawsuit, public anger would be bigger,” said Kan Oo, an NLD lower house MP from Salin.
Social media has exploded in Myanmar in recent years, alongside the lifting of junta-era censorship laws and web restrictions. But a rise in hate speech has followed, as well as a surge in the prosecution of online critics.
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Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) swept historic polls in **vember, with the veteran activist vowing to expand freedoms she fought for while under house arrest for some 15 years.
But limits on free speech remain, as does a culture of charging critics with defamation -- a common play under the former military-backed administration.
On Monday a court in central Magway charged a planning official from Salin township over Facebook posts that referred to Suu Kyi with a racial slur used by the former junta to draw attention to her marriage to a British academic.
The government employee referred to Suu Kyi as the wife of a “kalar,” a derogatory term used to slander foreigners.
“He was arrested on Saturday and detained at our police station. He appeared at court yesterday,” Win Tin, a police ******r from Salin, told AFP.
Myanmar’s former military rulers attempted to seize upon Suu Kyi’s marriage to Michael Aris, who died in 1999, to undercut her ties to a country she grew up in but did **t return to until later in life.
But their efforts failed, and Suu Kyi received rapturous support from her countrymen during her years as an activist.
Suu Kyi, **w leading the first civilian government in nearly half a century, continues to enjoy a saint-like status by many in a nation brutalised by decades of repressive military rule.
The official in Magway was charged by a member of the local NLD ******, who said the post sparked anger in the community.
“He insulted the country’s leader... if we did **t file a lawsuit, public anger would be bigger,” said Kan Oo, an NLD lower house MP from Salin.
Social media has exploded in Myanmar in recent years, alongside the lifting of junta-era censorship laws and web restrictions. But a rise in hate speech has followed, as well as a surge in the prosecution of online critics.
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