Mya Aye turned 56 on the day that Myanmar’s military junta sentenced him to two years in prison, reports Myanmar Now. He is the father of Wai Hnin Pwint Thon, senior advocacy officer at Burma Campaign UK.
“It’s not strange for a politician to face hardships such as this in life. I will stand my ground no matter what sentence they give me,” he said in a message sent to his daughter before receiving the sentence, which was the maximum allowable for the alleged offence.
Even if her father seemed to accept his fate, Wai Hnin Pwint Thon couldn’t help but be saddened by the outcome. “I just wanted him to spend his birthday at home with his family, eating a good home-cooked meal. It breaks my heart that we couldn’t give him that much, at least,” she said.
As a member of Burma Campaign UK, a group that calls for international pressure on the Myanmar regime, Wai Hnin Pwint Thon is unable to return to her home country to see her father or the rest of her family.