Nay Phone Latt

Nay Phone Latt (Burmese: နေဘုန်းလတ်; born Nay Myo Kyaw on 28 June 1980) is a Burmese blogger and activist, currently serving as a Yangon Region Hluttaw MP for Thingangyun Township. He was a recipient of PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award[1] and selected for 2010 Time 100 list under Hero Categories.[2] From 2008 to 2012, he was detained at Hpa-An Prison and was listed as a political prisoner by Assistance Association for Political Prisoners of Burma.[3]

In this Burmese name, the given name is Nay Phone Latt. There is no family name.
Nay Phone Latt
MP
နေဘုန်းလတ်
Member of the Yangon Region Hluttaw
for Thingangyun Township
Assumed office
8 February 2016
Personal details
Born
Nay Myo Kyaw

(1980-06-28) 28 June 1980
Yangon, Myanmar
Political partyNational League for Democracy
SpousePyone Thar Myint
Alma materYangon Technological University
Occupation
  • Blogger
  • Politician
AwardsPEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award
Websitewww.nayphonelatt.com

Background

Nay Phone Latt graduated with Engineering degree from Yangon Technological University. He worked in Singapore for a few years before he went back to Myanmar to start his Internet Cafe business. He is also a co-founder of Myanmar ICT for Development Organization (MIDO)MIDO, a local NGO focusing on ICT for Development, Internet Freedom and Civic Technology. He is now elected in the regional parliament representing the Thingangyun constituency.

Political imprisonment

Nay Phone Latt was arrested in January 2008 and sentenced to total of 20 years and 6 months in prison under Electronic act, creating public alarm and video act due to his alleged involvement in spreading news during 2007 Saffron Revolution using his blogs.[4] He wrote regularly in a Burmese internet magazine Thanlwin Ainmat (သံလွင်အိမ်မက်, Dream of Salween River) and his personal blog, The City that I have dropped (ကနော်လွတ်ကျခဲ့တဲ့မြို့တော်) before he was arrested. On February 20, 2009, his sentence was reduced on appeal to 12 years.[5] He was released on 13 January 2012 as part of a mass presidential pardon of political prisoners.[6]

International recognition

In 2010, Nay Phone Latt was awarded the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award, which honors "writers who have fought courageously in the face of adversity for the right to freedom of expression".[5]

In 2012, he participated in the International Writing Program's Fall Residency at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA.[7]

Political career

He successfully ran for a seat in parliament in 2015 general elections from National League for Democracy.[8]

References
  1. "The 2010 TIME 100". Time. 2010-04-29. Archived from the original on May 2, 2010. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
  2. Bono (2010-04-29). "Heroes". Time. Archived from the original on May 2, 2010. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
  3. "Data - Political Prisoners List". Assistance Association for Political Prisoners of Burma. Archived from the original on 2011-12-02. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
  4. "Burma blogger jailed for 20 years". BBC. 2008-11-11. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
  5. "PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award". PEN American Center. 2012. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  6. "Burma prisoner amnesty – Hla Hla Win walks". Democratic Voice of Burma. 2012-01-13. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  7. "2012 Resident Participants | The International Writing Program". iwp.uiowa.edu. Retrieved 2017-04-12.
  8. Joshua Lipes (20 July 2015). "88 Generation Leader to Contest Myanmar Election Despite Pending Charges". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
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