• Burmese
Thursday, July 17, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

2 Years Hard Labor for Htin Lin Oo in Religious Offense Case

Zarni Mann by Zarni Mann
June 2, 2015
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0 0
A A
2 Years Hard Labor for Htin Lin Oo in Religious Offense Case

Htin Lin Oo in custody outside the Chaung-U Township Court. (Photo: Teza Hlaing / The Irrawaddy)

14.7k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

CHAUNG-U, Sagaing Division — Attacked by the clergy, shunned by his party and remanded in custody for six months after he was denied bail, the ongoing saga of Htin Lin Oo reached its nadir on Tuesday when the prominent columnist was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labor.

His crime was to argue, in front of a literary festival audience last October, that discrimination on racial and religious grounds was incompatible with the central tenets of Buddhism.

Htin Lin Oo had spent the previous six months in custody for a trial under the Penal Code’s Article 295a, which prohibits “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings”, and Article 298, which proscribes “uttering words […] with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings”.

RelatedPosts

Myanmar Authorities Drag Their Feet Over Rebuilding of Mosques, Churches

Myanmar Authorities Drag Their Feet Over Rebuilding of Mosques, Churches

May 22, 2025
601
Quake Fails to Quell Russian Nuclear Romance; Naypyitaw Truth Concealed; and More

Quake Fails to Quell Russian Nuclear Romance; Naypyitaw Truth Concealed; and More

April 26, 2025
1.6k
Myanmar Catholics Mourn Pope Who Remembered Their Plight

Myanmar Catholics Mourn Pope Who Remembered Their Plight

April 23, 2025
544

The Chaung-U Township Court on Tuesday found the former information officer for the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) guilty of the first charge and issued the maximum sentence allowable under the law. He was acquitted on the lesser charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 12 months, due to insufficient evidence.

“What I said was for love and peace between different communities with different faiths,” said Htin Lin Oo outside the court, after the day’s proceedings had concluded. “I received two years’ imprisonment for that, but I won, because I can reveal the people behind all of these haters. From my case, the whole country now knows who is the black hand behind the scenes.”

Around 50 members of the Buddhist nationalist Association for the Protection of Race and Religion, also known as Ma Ba Tha, were present outside the court on Tuesday, along with around 30 nationalist monks. Similar nationalist crowds had been present outside the courthouse during Htin Lin Oo’s earlier appearances. Lin Min Tun arrived at court with a security escort, and about 20 police officers were stationed outside the building to keep order.

“As everyone has seen the situation of the court, I doubt the court too stressed about this case,” said defense lawyer Thein Than Oo. “The case was suitable for bail but because of pressure from every direction, the bail was denied.”

While handing down the sentence, Judge Lin Min Tun said that Htin Lin Oo’s speech had not been directed at a section of the clergy but had deliberately defamed the entire Buddhist religion. As he was led away, the author said that pointing out which members of the Buddhist clergy he was referring to during the speech would have been redundant, as it was already common knowledge.

“If I have to point them out, I can,” he said. “Everyone already knows who they are, too. I didn’t name them [in the speech] to avoid unnecessary chaos.”

Htin Lin Oo will return to Monywa Prison to serve his sentence, less the six months already spent in remand. His family and Thein Than Oo are preparing an appeal for the Sagaing Divisional Court.

Amnesty International issued a statement on Thursday labeling the columnist a prisoner of conscience and calling for his immediate release.

“Today’s verdict is yet another blow to freedom of expression in Myanmar and should be overturned immediately,” said Rupert Abbott, the Amnesty research director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. “Htin Lin Oo did nothing but give a speech promoting religious tolerance.”

“This is a sad indication of how Myanmar continues to rely on a range of draconian laws to silence and lock up critical voices. Despite promises to clear the country’s jails of prisoners of conscience, arrests of peaceful activists have actually picked up pace alarmingly over the past two years,” he added.

Htin Lin Oo was widely condemned on social media last November after a 10-minute excerpt of a speech delivered to 500 people at a literary event in Chaung-U.

“Buddha is not Burmese, not Shan, not Karen—so if you want to be an extreme nationalist and if you love to maintain your race that much, don’t believe in Buddhism,” he said at the time.

A statement from the Patriotic Buddhist Monks Union released on Nov. 15 called on NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi to take responsibility for the speech, warning that it had the potential to tarnish the opposition party’s image.

Following an internal party investigation, Htin Lin Oo was relieved of his position as NLD information officer. He was later expelled from the party.

Nyan Win and Nan Khin Htwe Myint, the official spokespersons of the NLD, had their phones switched off on Tuesday and could not be reached for comment on Htin Lin Oo’s conviction.

In December, Htin Lin Oo was placed into custody after an official from Chaung-U Township’s Department of Immigration filed a formal complaint with the local police station. He was denied bail during a Dec. 17 court hearing.

On Jan. 17, the author prostrated himself before the Chaung-U clergy, a gesture of reconciliation that was accepted by the head of the local Sangha but failed to persuade the original complainant, Tun Khaing, to withdraw the charges.

Htin Lin Oo’s conviction is the second prominent religious offense conviction so far this year, following the prison sentences handed down to New Zealand National Philip Blackwood and his Burmese business partners Tun Thurein and Htut Ko Ko Lwin in Rangoon’s infamous V Gastro Bar case in March. Buddhist nationalist monks and Ma Ba Tha members were regular fixtures outside the trio’s court appearances.

Failing a successful appeal, Htin Lin Oo will remain in Monywa Prison until December 2017.

Additional reporting by Sean Gleeson in Rangoon.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: A_FactivaMoreReligion
Zarni Mann

Zarni Mann

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Myanmar Christian Leader Rearrested Hours After Release in Amnesty
Burma

Myanmar Christian Leader Rearrested Hours After Release in Amnesty

by The Irrawaddy
April 18, 2024
9.3k

Sources said Dr. Hkalam Samson, his wife and a third person were taken from the Baptist minister’s home early Thursday....

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Allocates Land in Yangon for Russia to Build Orthodox Church
Burma

Myanmar Junta Allocates Land in Yangon for Russia to Build Orthodox Church

by The Irrawaddy
October 20, 2023
4.3k

The proposed church, which the regime will help to construct, is a sign of just how close ties between the...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Buses In Govt Staff as Pilgrims Shun ‘Dictator’s Pagoda’
Burma

Myanmar Junta Buses In Govt Staff as Pilgrims Shun ‘Dictator’s Pagoda’

by The Irrawaddy
September 13, 2023
4.1k

To create the impression its giant Buddha statue is a popular draw, the regime is paying employees an allowance, covering...

Read moreDetails
Monks Strike Back: Myanmar Junta’s Slaying of Abbot Sparks Alms Boycott
Burma

Monks Strike Back: Myanmar Junta’s Slaying of Abbot Sparks Alms Boycott

by Khin Nadi
June 27, 2024
3k

Killing and coverup triggers protest but also reveals divisions within a Sangha split by years of military rule.

Read moreDetails
Why U Ottamathara Wants Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to Leave Politics 
Burma

Why U Ottamathara Wants Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to Leave Politics 

by Gary Rocchio
October 13, 2023
2.1k

Rather than bridging political gaps, the monk has created a rift between himself and the wider Burmese community in Myanmar...

Read moreDetails
The Backstory of Pagoda Hammer Attack That Myanmar’s Junta is Hiding
Burma

The Backstory of Pagoda Hammer Attack That Myanmar’s Junta is Hiding

by Ko Oo
January 16, 2024
2.1k

Pagoda in Shan State was built on the site of a sacred Kokang shrine demolished by the military after 2015...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
President’s Pitch on Charter Reform Said to Miss the Mark

President’s Pitch on Charter Reform Said to Miss the Mark

International Pressure on Ethnic Armies to Ink Ceasefire

International Pressure on Ethnic Armies to Ink Ceasefire

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

What the ‘Snake Charmer’ Analogy Gets Wrong About Myanmar

What the ‘Snake Charmer’ Analogy Gets Wrong About Myanmar

2 days ago
1.2k
‘Not a Witch Hunt’: Upholding Survivor-Centered Justice in Myanmar

‘Not a Witch Hunt’: Upholding Survivor-Centered Justice in Myanmar

6 days ago
795

Most Read

  • Indian Army Accused of Deadly Strike on Separatists in Myanmar

    Indian Army Accused of Deadly Strike on Separatists in Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Rakhine Fighters Close In on Myanmar Junta’s Naval Base

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Behind the Scenes: China’s Hand in Myanmar’s Election

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Recaptures Nawnghkio After Months-Long Counteroffensive

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Rogue Sagaing Resistance Fighters Held Over Robbery Gone Wrong

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.