With all the commotion over Tibet these days, the situation in Myanmar seems to have all but faded from the media's eye. But the case of Burmese activist Ohn Than made a blip on the radar last week after he was given a unusually ridiculous sentence: life in prison for not saying a word. Than got the book thrown at him for his silent demonstration outside the US embassy last August, says the BBC. He was holding a poster that was pretty tame by American standards--calling for parliament to reconvene and for oil prices to be reduced--but that hardly seemed to matter. The junta slammed him with a fine of less than $1, along with a life sentence in the notorious Insein prison.
The US State department has no current warnings against visiting Burma, though we're still not sure it's a great idea. But whether you decide to make the country a travel destination or not, just don't forget about what's happening inside its borders when the news isn't watching.
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