On 18 October 2023, the Monywa Prison Court in Myanmar sentenced environmental and land rights defender, Man Zar Myay Mon to 11 years in prison, on three counts under the Counter-Terrorism Law, including “possession or distribution of explosives”. This sentence followed a previous 10-year prison sentence imposed on him for “incitement”, bringing his total sentence to 21 years in prison.

Man Zar Myay Mon is a member of the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability (MATA) and of the Subnational Coordination Unit (SCU) of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in the Sagaing Region. He was a leading figure of peaceful anti-coup protests in Chaung-U Township, Sagaing Region, following the military coup on 1 February 2021 and worked to promote accountability of the extractive industries for the benefit of local communities. He led a regional mining investigation and helped inform the development of mining legislation in Sagaing Region. Throughout this process, he helped uncover many instances of corruption among government officials.