Burmese comedian Zarganar imprisoned for telling jokes
As one of Burma's most popular comedians this man tells a lot of jokes. It's what he does. The people of Burma love him for it. The military government less so. He spent 11 years of his life behind bars, mainly for doing his job.
Jailed for criticising government
In 2008 Zarganar spoke out against the Burmese government's handling of the Cyclone Nargis tragedy that left 140,000 people dead and millions homeless. But he didn't just sit back and criticise. He sprung into action, leading a movement that saw money and supplies delivered to the victims.
To many of us this would seem like an act of immense selflessness. The government's response was to sentence Zarganar to 59 years in prison. All because he had publicly criticised the government.
Freed because of campaign pressure
Under four years later, last Sunday, he was on stage at our Secret Policeman's Ball, an event organised to celebrate the very freedom he had been denied: the freedom of expression.
Zarganar could be there because, with our support, he was released in October last year.
'(if each) donation to Amnesty is one drop of water, and you collected many drop drop drops this will become an ocean; this will save all political prisoners around the world.' - Zarganar
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