Two NLD members who were arrested and charged under Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law last month were granted bail on Sunday, making them two of three defendants this week to be granted bail under the controversial law.
Kyaw Myo Lwin and Thet Thet Maw were arrested in Naypyidaw on July 20 after an online defamation suit was brought against them for sharing a photo of local administrator named Tin Htay online. Thet Thet Maw is accused of taking a photo of a handcuffed Tin Htay, who was on trial for allegedly misusing public funds, and Kyaw Myo Lwin is accused of sharing the photo from his personal Facebook account.
The suit was filed by Tin Htay’s uncle, Maung Win Soe Thu.
Judge Win Oo reportedly granted bail to the two defendants on the basis that their charges do not carry harsh punishments.
The following day, Myanmar Now editor Swe Win was released on bail by a Mandalay judge. Swe Win is facing a 66(d) charge for quoting in a Facebook post a Buddhist monk who said the radical nationalist monk Wirathu was unfit for monkhood.
Wirathu had previously praised the people who conspired to kill constitutional lawyer Ko Ni at the Yangon International Airport in January.
The Voice editor Kyaw Min Swe, on the other hand, has had six requests for bail rejected by a Yangon court, most recently in early June.
Mass protests against Section 66(d) following the Kyaw Min Swe’s denied bail requests are thought to have softened legal authorities’ stance against granting bail to defendants.
