Japanese Filmmaker Gets Prison Sentences in Myanmar

Bangkok, Oct. 6 (Jiji Press)--A Myanmar court on Wednesday sentenced a Japanese documentary filmmaker to imprisonment of seven years for violating a law on electronic communications and three years for incitement.

It is unclear whether the sentences against Toru Kubota will be combined.

Kubota was detained in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, by security authorities on July 30 while filming a protest against the country's military junta, which took power in a coup.

He is also being tried over violating immigration laws.

Myanmar's military has said that Kubota entered the country on a tourist visa and was taking part in the protest. It has also claimed that Kubota included false information in a documentary he produced about the Rohingya Muslim minority in violation of the electronic communications law.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]