Curtailing Free Expression, Opinion and Information Online in Southeast Asia Case of Peacock Generation Thangyat group In April 2019, members of the Peacock Generation (Daungdoh Myoset) thangyat group – a performance art group that does traditional slam poetry – were charged under section 66(d) and section 505(a) of the Penal Code after Lt. Col. Than Tun Myint of Yangon Regional Command filed a complaint against them for alleged defamation of the military following a satirical arts performance which the group had live-streamed on Facebook.142 In October 2019, a court in Yangon’s Mayangone township sentenced Kay Khine Tun, Zayar Lwin, Paing Ye Thu, Paing Phyo Min, and Zaw Lin Htut each to one year in prison with hard labour for violation of section 505(a) of the Penal Code. 143 They had been held in pre-trial detention since April when they were denied bail.144 In November 2019, a court in Yangon’s Botataung township sentenced the same five and a sixth member, Su Yadanar Myint, to a year in prison for violation of section 505(a) of the Penal Code, increasing the imprisonment term of the earlier five to two years.145 Zayar Lwin, Paing Ye Thu and Paing Phyo Min face further charges under 505(a) in three other township courts, in apparent violation of the fair trial principle of non bis in idem,146and all six members along with a seventh, Nyein Chan Soe, face charges under section 66(d) for alleged defamation of the military.147 142 Htet Arkar, Roseanne Gerin, ‘Myanmar Satire Troupe Denied Bail, Remanded to Insein Prison For Lampooning Military’, Radio Free Asia, 22 April 2019, Available at: https://www.rfa.org/english/ news/myanmar/myanmar-satire-troupe-denied-bail-04222019164338.html 143 Zaw Zaw Htwe, ‘Five Members of Performance Troupe Jailed for Satirizing Myanmar Military’, The Irrawaddy, 30 October 2019, Available at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/fivemembers-performance-troupe-jailed-satirizing-myanmar-military.html; Human Rights Watch, ‘Myanmar: Actors Convicted of Criticizing Army’, 31 October 2019 (‘HRW, 31 October 2019’), Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/10/31/myanmar-actors-convicted-criticizing-army 144 Htet Arkar, Roseanne Gerin, ‘Myanmar Satire Troupe Denied Bail, Remanded to Insein Prison For Lampooning Military’, Radio Free Asia, 22 April 2019, Available at: https://www.rfa.org/english/ news/myanmar/myanmar-satire-troupe-denied-bail-04222019164338.html 145 Human Rights Watch, ‘Myanmar: More Jail Time for Satirical Troupe’, 19 November 2019 (‘HRW, 19 November 2019’), Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/11/19/myanmar-more-jail-timesatirical-troupe 146 The fair trial principle of non bis in idem ensures that an individual who has been tried and punished for an offence is not tried or punished for a second time in criminal proceedings in the same jurisdiction. 147 HRW, 31 October 2019; HRW, 19 November 2019. 49