 Professional Background
Burmese poet and performance artist well known for his romantic poetry. Until his recent arrest, Saw Wei headed the White Rainbow poetry recital group, an organization of artist and writers working to raise money for AIDS orphans. Although at one point employed by the government communications office, Saw Wei was dismissed from his job after taking part in the 1988 Uprising against the military junta.
Current Status
Saw Wei was released from Yamethin Prison, Mandalay Division, on May 26, 2010—nearly five months after his sentence expired. |
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Case History
Saw Wei was arrested on January 2, 2008, after his poem "February the Fourteenth," an eight-line verse about Valentine's Day, was published in the Rangoon-based weekly magazine Love Journal. An acrostic poem, when the first letters of each line are put together, they read “General Than Shwe is crazy with power” in Burmese. The weekly magazine quickly sold out as word spread of the coded message.
On November 10, 2008, Saw Wei was sentenced to two years in prison for “inducing crime against public tranquility.” His wife expressed deep concern for his health, citing his condition at the trial where he was unable to maintain a single position for long periods of time due to pain.
A major crackdown in Burma has been underway since early September 2007, following demonstrations by monks and pro-democracy activists, which began on August 19, 2007. Writers and journalists are among the scores of people who have been detained. On November 11, 2008, it was reported that about 40 Burmese dissidents, including human rights defenders and Buddhists monks, were sentenced by a court in Insein Prison, Rangoon, to up to 65 years in prison. |
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