A Myanmar court has sentenced a doctor to
21 months in jail after convicting him of insulting Buddhist
monks in connection with a debate about a proposal to teach sex
education in schools.
Kyaw Win Thant, 31, was arrested in May after angry scenes
at a monastery in the central city of Meiktila, where he
apologised to monks for deriding them in Facebook posts, a
senior monk said at the time.
A court in the city of Mandalay sentenced him under sections
of the Penal Code that outlaw insulting religion, a spokesman
told reporters this week.
"He feels regretful and admitted his crime so the court gave
this decision," said court spokesman Kyaw Myo Win, according to
video footage published by the Irrawaddy news outlet.
Kyaw Myo Win declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.
He told media Kyaw Win Thant did not have a lawyer and he was
not available for comment on Thursday.
Kyaw Win Thant's Facebook posts were in response to comments
posted by numerous other monks denouncing a government proposal
to teach sex education at school, the senior monk said earlier.
The posts have been deleted and could not be verified by
Reuters.
A senior official from Mandalay district religious affairs
department confirmed the sentence.
"We filed the lawsuit because he violated the law," the
official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.
Sex education is not taught as a separate subject in most
Myanmar schools though aspects of growing up are addressed.
The proposal to include it has been a hot topic on social
media but remains taboo in the conservative, mainly Buddhist
country where monks have long been an influential source of
moral guidance.