Global Courant 2023-05-30 08:00:00
YANGON – A popular Myanmar rapper who criticized the junta for mass blackouts has been arrested for “spreading propaganda,” the military said.
Byu Har posted a Facebook video to his hundreds of thousands of followers on Tuesday, criticizing the junta for the ongoing power outages that have hit Myanmar in recent weeks.
He scoffed at junta leader Min Aung Hlaing and said that the power supply was better organized under the government of deposed civilian leader and democratic figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi.
Byu Har was arrested for “sedition for the purpose of disturbing the peace and stability of the nation, and spreading propaganda,” the army’s intelligence team said in a statement on Sunday.
It gave no details on whether he had been charged or where he was being held.
Byu Har is the son of prominent composer Naing Myanmar, whose song Kabar Ma Kyay Buu was widely sung during protests against the February 2021 army coup.
Byu Har regularly posts bare-chested videos strumming a guitar.
Power outages are common in Myanmar due to a creaky and aging power grid, with demand regularly outpacing supply during the sweltering summer months.
The junta blames the worsening power outages on rising gas prices and attacks on infrastructure by anti-coup fighters.
The blackout has exacerbated the economic woes caused by the military coup.
The junta has made tens of thousands of arrests since taking power in its crackdown on dissent, including dozens of artists and celebrities, according to a local monitoring group.
Last year, two prominent models were arrested for “damaging culture and dignity” after they posted clips to intimate video hosting platform OnlyFans.
The coup sparked renewed clashes between the military and ethnic rebel groups, and led to dozens of “People’s Defense Forces” now fighting across Myanmar.
According to the United Nations, more than a million people have been displaced by the violence.
Suu Kyi was sentenced to 33 years in prison by the junta in December after a closed-door trial that human rights groups called a sham. AFP
