Win Maw

Age: 49
Ethnicity: Burmese
Religion: Buddhist
Education: University, 2nd year
Occupation: DVB VJ, musician and composer
Arrest date: 27 November 2007
Sentence date: 11 November 2008, 5 March 2009

In March 2009, award-winning journalist Win Maw was sentenced to 10 years in jail. He was already 18 months into a seven-year sentence on charges of breaching the Immigration Act when the additional decade was added.

During a raid on his house in early 2009 whilst he was detained, police had found disk full of data destined for DVB. They then begun an investigation into his activities as a VJ. His family said that he was beaten and tortured during the early stages of his detention, with interrogators reportedly 'waterboarding' him and breaking his nose. 

Burmese authorities accused him of being the “mastermind” behind DVB’s in-country news coverage of the September 2007 monk-led uprising. His jail term was subsequently extended under the Electronics Act, which allows for harsh prison sentences for using electronic media to send information outside the country without government approval.

A prominent singer and songwriter, Win Maw began working for DVB in 2003, one year after he was released from his first spell in prison for composing pro-democracy songs. He has also composed music for DVB, as well as passing on photos and videos from opposition groups such as the NLD and 88 Generation Students. He took part in many of their campaigns and activities as an organizer on top of his role as a DVB reporter.

Win Maw, who is currently in Kyaukphyu prison in Burma’s western Arakan state, received the Imprisoned Artist Prize in 2008, the Kenji Nagai Memorial Award in 2010 along with another arrested DVB reporter Hla Hla Win, and the prestigious Freedom to Create award for jailed artists in 2011.