48 Dictating the Internet: Case of Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi In April 2019, Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, filmmaker and founder of a human rights film festival in Myanmar, was arrested and taken into pre-trial detention following a complaint filed against him under section 66(d) for alleged defamation of the military regarding posts he had made on Facebook criticizing the role of the military in Myanmar’s politics.137 Lt. Col. Lin Htun of Yangon Regional Command filed the case against the filmmaker, and a second case for alleged violation of section 505(a) of Myanmar’s Penal Code.138 Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi remained in prison, despite requiring access to medical treatment as he suffers from liver cancer and underwent a serious operation prior to his arrest and detention.139 In August 2019, he was convicted of the charge under section 505(a) of the Penal Code and sentenced to one year in prison with hard labour.140 In a similar case: In May 2016, poet Maung Saung Kha was convicted under section 66(d) and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for alleged defamation of former president Thein Sein following a poem he posted on Facebook in October 2015.141 137 San Yamin Aung, ‘Filmmaker Accused of Insulting Army Is Denied Bail, Sent to Prison’, The Irrawaddy, 12 April 2019, Available at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/filmmakeraccused-insulting-army-denied-bail-sent-prison.html 138 Section 505(a) of the Penal Code is a non-bailable offence, where a judge can make a decision to grant bail to the accused. 139 Amnesty International, ‘Myanmar: Health Concerns For Detained Filmmaker: Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi’, 6 June 2019, Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa16/0478/2019/en/ 140 Sam Aung Moon, ‘Myanmar jails filmmaker for Facebook posts critical of military’, Reuters, 29 August 2019, Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-filmmaker/myanmarjails-filmmaker-for-facebook-posts-critical-of-military-idUSKCN1VJ0Q5?feedType=RSS&feedName= worldNews 141 PEN International, ‘Myanmar: Poet sentenced to 6 months in prison and released’, 25 May 2016, Available at: https://www.pen-international.org/news/myanmar-poet-sentenced-to-6-months-inprison-and-released