Man charged over ‘insult’

A Dutch citizen who allegedly unplugged an amplifier blasting a latenight Buddhist sermon near his hotel in Burma is due to appear in court charged with insulting religion.

Klaas Haytema, 30, wasarrested lastweekin the city ofMandalay and has been detained while awaiting trial, with a hearing scheduled to take place later.

Police officer Kyi Soe said:“We are tryinghard to make sure the trial doesn’t take too long.”

Haytema was staying at a hotel near a community religious hall. A crowd gathered to protest after the loudspeakers were turned off mid-sermon.

The man who was reciting the sermon pressed charges against Haytema for insulting the Buddhist religion, and immigration officials have charged him with violating the terms of his visa.

Local media reported

“We are trying to make sure the trial isn’t too long”

that Haytema had apologised to the authorities. He faces up to two years in prison and a fine if convicted of the charge of insulting religion in the predominantly Buddhist country.

Mandalay, a major tourist attraction in central Burma, is the country’s cultural capital and the former seat of Burmese kings. It is culturally and religiously conservative.

In e a r l y 201 5 , a Burmese court sentenced a New Zealand bar manager, Phil Blackwood, to two years in prison afterhepostedan image of Buddha wearing headphones on the bar’s official Facebook page in late 2014.

Blackwood was released in an amnesty earlier this year.

It is common for Buddhist groups to broadcast sermons by loudspeaker at very high volumes.