A court in Myanmar has jailed a kiwi for two and a half years for "blasphemy":
A Wellington man sentenced to two and a half years of hard labour in Myanmar faces a very tough life shackled to other prisoners, according to a fellow Kiwi who has witnessed the work gangs.
Philip Blackwood learned his grim fate on Tuesday in a Yangon court after he and two Burmese colleagues were found guilty of offending Buddhism by posting an online advertisement of a psychedelic Buddha wearing headphones to promote their VGastro bar.
Yes, jailed for a Buddha wearing headphones. That's how backwards they are in Myanmar.
But lest anyone think that we're better, its still a crime in New Zealand to insult Christians (and specifically, Anglicans). The best way to show our disapproval for Myanmar's backwardness is to repeal our own. There's a bill to do so here; does any MP want to take it up?
