Byu Har
Byu Har (or Byuhar,[1] Burmese: ဗျူဟာ; born 1984/1985), also known as Min Oat Myanmar (or Min Oak Myanmar),[1] is a Burmese hip-hop artist who was jailed in 2023 for criticizing the government of Myanmar.[2]
The BBC has referred to Byu Har as "one of Myanmar's biggest hip-hop artists". He is the son of Naing Myanmar, another prominent musician. Before his detention, he was based in Yangon. He had been previously warned by the junta for producing music that was critical of the regime.[3] In April 2023, he was denounced for boycotting the Thingyan festival in protest of the junta.[4]
On May 24, 2023, Byu Har livestreamed on Facebook to levy criticism against politician Min Aung Hlaing for the frequent power outages in his city. He was arrested hours later.[2] It was rumored on social media that he had been killed.[5] He was held on charges of incitement, and was sent to Insein Prison.[2] He was initially facing a sentence of up to three years.[4]
In August 2023, Byu Har was sentenced to 20 years in prison.[2]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Naing, Ingyin (1 June 2023). "Widespread Worry About Myanmar Rapper's Fate After Arrest". Voice of America. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ a b c d "A Burmese hip-hop artist is jailed for 20 years for criticizing Myanmar's military leaders". AP News. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ "Myanmar rapper Byu Har arrested for criticising junta". 26 May 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ a b Thit, Han (31 May 2023). "Rapper to be imprisoned for complaining about power cuts". Myanmar Now. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ "အဆိုတော် ဗျူဟာ သေဆုံးတယ်ဆိုတဲ့ သတင်းအမှားပျံ့". ဗွီအိုအေ (in Burmese). 26 May 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2024.