Japanese Filmmaker Handed 10-Year Prison Sentence In Myanmar

deadline.com:

Japanese documentary filmmaker Toru Kubota, who was detained in Myanmar in July, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in the military-ruled Southeast Asian country.

The Japan Times reports a junta-controlled court gave Kubota three years for sedition and seven years for electronic communications-related violations, he is expected to serve the terms concurrently.

The 26-year-old Kubota was initially arrested in late July while filming a protest against the military in Yangon. At the time, it was reported he faced charges of breaking an immigration law and encouraging dissent, Reuters reports.

Per the Japan Times, the military claims Kubota, whose Light Up Rohingya won the AFP and Student Awards at the United for Peace Film Festival in 2016, entered the country from neighboring Thailand using a tourist visa, and that he was participating in the demonstration and communicating with protesters while filming.