International PEN strongly protests the six-year prison sentence handed down to leading Burmese musician Win Maw. PEN calls for his immediate and unconditional release, as well as the release of all those currently detained in Myanmar in violation of Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Background Information

On November 11, 2008, the Mingalar Taungnyunt Township Court sentenced leading Burmese musician Win Maw to six years in prison for “sending false news abroad” after sending news reports and video footage to the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma radio station during the protests in August and September 2007. Win Maw was arrested in a Rangoon teashop on November 27, 2007 and charged under article 5 (j) of the penal code with “threatening national security.” He was held in Insein prison, in Myanmar’s capital city Rangoon, and was transferred to Mandalay prison following this year’s trial.

Win Maw, aged 46, was lead guitarist in the music group Shwe Thansin, which was one of the top bands in Burma in the 1990s. He was previously imprisoned from 1997 to 2003 for writing songs in support of Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD).

A major crackdown in Burma has been underway since early September 2007, following demonstrations led by monks and pro-democracy activists which began on August 19, 2007. Writers and journalists were among the scores of people to be detained in late 2007. Although most were subsequently freed after brief detentions, Win Maw is one of over 40 dissidents, human rights defenders and monks to have been convicted for their role in the demonstrations, and received harsh sentences in special courts held inside Insein Prison in November 2008. More sentences are expected in the coming days, and the authorities are continuing to crack down on any expressions of dissent.

Write A Letter

  • Protesting the six-year sentence imposed on musician Win Maw;
  • Demanding his immediate and unconditional release and that of all those currently detained in Myanmar in violation of Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Send Your Letter To

While the situation in Burma is still critical, letters sent to the country may not be received or taken as a priority. It is therefore recommended that appeals be sent to the diplomatic representative of Myanmar (Burma) in your own country.

  • Protesting the six-year sentence imposed on musician Win Maw;
  • Demanding his immediate and unconditional release and that of all those currently detained in Myanmar in violation of Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Volunteers may consider writing letters to their national newspapers expressing alarm at events in Burma, and highlighting Saw Wei’s case to illustrate the many years of repression in the country.