Yangon - A judge in Myanmar has issued an arrest warrant for
Wirathu, a firebrand Buddhist monk who for years has been the face of
the country's ultranationalist movement and has given inflammatory
sermons against the government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
The warrant was issued on Tuesday, after an official from Myanmar's
General Administration Department filed sedition charges against the
monk, the local news site Myanmar Now reported on Wednesday.
The contents of the lawsuit remain unknown. Sedition is defined by
Myanmar's penal code as an attempt "to bring into hatred or contempt,
or excite or attempt to excite disaffection towards, the government."
It carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Earlier this month, Wirathu led a rally against attempts by Suu Kyi's
civilian government to amend the country's constitution, which would
limit the military's political power. During a speech, he accused her
of being influenced by and "sleeping with" foreigners.
Wirathu was previously jailed by Myanmar's military junta in 2003.
When he was released in 2012, he began delivering anti-Muslim
speeches throughout the country. That year, riots erupted in Rakhine
state that led to the displacement of over 100,000 Rohingya to
internment camps, where they remain to this day.
Facebook de-platformed Wirathu in January 2018, and he was banned
from entering Thailand last month.
Earlier this month, after hearing that the Ministry of Religious
Affairs was preparing a defamation lawsuit against him, Wirathu
posted a defiant video on the Russian social media platform VK
saying: "I give speeches without the fear of handcuffs and prisons."