Myanmar movie stars, musicians, writers, poets and diplomats attended the premiere of a short film series on human rights in Yangon yesterday. However there was one noticeable absence: the director.
As about 150 people sat down in the Sule Shangri-La for a screening of “30 Short Films on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” its creator Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi spent his 54th afternoon in Insein Prison where he was sent for criticising the military on Facebook.
“The films were fantastic,” said Mark Moses, a director and close friend of Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi. “We need these films, and now the filmmaker is in jail so it’s the right time to release them.”
Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, founder of Myanmar’s Human Rights, Human Dignity International Film Festival, was arrested on April 12 after lieutenant colonel Lin Htun of Yangon Region Command filed a defamation case in late March under section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law.
Days later, Lin Htun filed another lawsuit under section 505(a) of the Penal Code which criminalizes statements that might cause military officers to “disregard or fail” in their duties.
Each law carries a sentence of up to two years in prison.
The director, who received treatment for liver cancer five months ago, is expected to attend his fifth hearing at Insein township court tomorrow (June 6).
“He is in good spirits, but he is not very healthy,” said Moses, who accompanied Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi to Insein police station after the media told them about his warrant.
“I was with him until the very last minute before he was detained. He was quite cool and ready. I was quite upset when he started posting [about the military on Facebook] and I warned him to be careful because, even though we can say our country is quite open, it’s not there yet.”
Myanmar Motion Picture Organisation chairman Lu Min, Myanmar Academy Award winning actress Aye Myat Thu, and popular musician Ye Lay were among those watching the short films, each themed on an article in the declaration of human rights.
Friends and former students of Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, who tutored 36 filmmakers at his Human Dignity Film Institute from 2013 to 2017, helped organise the event.
“Today is a remarkable day for him, to recognize his efforts,” said celebrated actress and democracy advocate Grace Swe Zin Htaik.
Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi is “outspoken,” she said, and commenting on the military is a “grey area.”
“He accidentally or incidentally did that and now he is facing hard times,” she added.
Former political prisoner Ko Ko Gyi, who along with other pro-democracy 88 Generation student leaders recently established the People’s Party, told Myanmar Mix at the screening that he is continuing the fight for free speech.
“Freedom of speech is the fundamental norm of democracy,” he said. “Filmmaking is a very effective way to spread human rights education among the people.”
