Byu Har (or Byuhar, ; born 1984/1985), also known as Min Oat Myanmar (or Min Oak Myanmar), is a Burmese hip-hop artist who was jailed in 2023 for criticizing the government of

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

Life and career

The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

has referred to Byu Har as "one of Myanmar's biggest hip-hop artists". He is the son of Naing Myanmar, another prominent musician. Before his detention, he was based in

Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

. He had been previously warned by the junta for producing music that was critical of the regime. In April 2023, he was denounced for boycotting the

Thingyan Thingyan (/sɛŋkəmɑ/ ; , Old Mon language, Old Mon: သင်ကြာန် ), also known as the Myanmar New Year, is a festival that usually occurs in middle of April. Thingyan marks the transition from the old year to the new one, based on ...

festival in protest of the junta. On May 24, 2023, Byu Har

livestream Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming media, streaming of video or Digital audio, audio in real-time communication, real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature ...

ed on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

to levy criticism against politician

Min Aung Hlaing Min Aung Hlaing (born 3 July 1956) is a Burmese army general who has ruled Myanmar as the chairman of the State Administration Council, chairman of the State Administration Council (SAC) since seizing power in the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, Fe ...

for the frequent power outages in his city. He was arrested hours later. It was rumored on social media that he had been killed. He was held on charges of incitement, and was sent to

Insein Prison Insein Prison () is located in Yangon Division, near Yangon (Rangoon), the old capital of Myanmar (formerly Burma). From 1988 to 2011 it was run by the military junta of Myanmar, named the State Law and Order Restoration Council from 1988 to 2003 ...

. He was initially facing a sentence of up to three years. In August 2023, Byu Har was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byu Har 1980s births Living people Year of birth uncertain Burmese hip-hop musicians Burmese male singer-songwriters Burmese prisoners and detainees Musicians from Yangon