5/24/22, 8:02 PM 66(d): The defamation menace | Frontier Myanmar ISSUES SIGN UP NOW 66(d): The defamation menace  JANUARY 13, 2017   The military junta might have been replaced by a democratically-elected government, but defamation cases are on the rise; and a controversial clause in the 2013 Telecommunications Law is to blame. By HEIN KO SOE & THOMAS KEAN | FRONTIER IN MAY 2016, a complaint was filed to police alleging that politician Ko Nay Myo Wai had defamed State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Htin Kyaw and Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on Facebook. The post in question suggested that the president and commander-in-chief had gained their positions as a result of improper relations with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Nay Myo Wai, who leads the Peace and Diversity Party but ironically has gained notoriety for his staunch anti-Muslim views, was arrested on May 4. He was brought to trial under section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, which carries a potential three-year prison term for defamation using a communications network. On July 15, the Pathein Township judge found Nay Myo Wai not guilty. His defence lawyer, Daw Sandar Oo – who is also the party vice president – successfully argued that the account that posted the defamatory material was fake; although it was in Nay Myo Wai’s name, the judge agreed that it had been created by another person. “After that the Criminal Investigation Department investigated the two ‘Nay Myo Wai’ accounts and they found that the offending account was fake, so the judge released Nay Myo Support independent journalism in Myanmar Sign up to be a Frontier member. Wai,” she told Frontier, referring to the https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/66d-the-defamation-menace/ 1/10