Ngar Min Swe, also known as Sar Min Swe, was found guilty in Yangon Western District Court on Monday of inciting hatred against the government in his Facebook post of January 24, in violation of section 124A of the penal code.





The court ruled against Sar Min Swe after 11 hearings. He did not have a lawyer but represented himself in court.

During the Tatmadaw (military) government, U Min Swe was a weekly columnist in state-owned newspapers who wrote articles critical of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who is now head of government. His pro-government articles at the time earned him the nickname “Phar (Toady) Min Swe”.

He distributed his articles from vehicles in many cities across the country. He reported in 2017 that the public hugging and kissing of US President Barack Obama and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during visits in 2012 and 2014 were shameful and an insult to the dignity of the Myanmar people.

Last year, another Facebook user was sentenced to six months in prison with hard labour for defaming the State Counsellor.