A MYANMAR court has sentenced a New Zealand bar manager and his business associates to two years and six months in prison for insulting Buddhism over a flyer that showed a psychedelic depiction of Buddha wearing headphones.

Blackwood, 32, Tun Thurein and Htut Ko Ko Lwin were given two years of hard labour for insulting religion and six months for disobeying an order from a public servant.

The trial of V Gastro manager Blackwood, bar owner Tun Thurein and employee Htut Ko Ko Lwin came as the predominantly Buddhist nation grapples with a surge of religious nationalism — including violence against members of the minority Muslim community.

The three were arrested in December after the image was used to promote a tapas bar and lounge.

The V Gastro bar used an image of the Buddha wearing headphones in an online poster to promote a cheap drinks night.

The poster, which appeared last year on the Facebook page of the newly opened Yangon bar, sparked outrage on social media in the predominantly Buddhist country.

Bar general manager Blackwood, bar owner Tun Thurein, 40, and manager Htut Ko Ko Lwin, 26, were arrested and charged with breaching the Religion Act.

Under the act anyone who attempts to insult, destroy or damage any religion can be punished by a maximum of two years in jail, with another two-year penalty for those who insult religion through the written word.

Blackwood’s lawyer Mya Thway had earlier told the court his client had not intended to insult religion and was simply promoting a cheap drinks night.

But Agence France-Presse reports that Judge Ye Lwin said on Tuesday that although Blackwood posted an apology, he had “intentionally plotted to insult religious belief” when he uploaded the mocked-up image on Facebook.