An international NGO has spoken out against the harsh sentence given to a Myanmar film maker. Myanmar film producer Ma Aeint was sentenced to three years of jail with hard labour by a court in Yangon on Friday, a reminder of the threats posed to the country’s artists, film makers and creatives if they step out of line, according to International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) Ma Aeint is the producer of the film “Money Has Four Legs,” which was directed by Maung Sun and began screening at festivals in 2020 before Myanmar was hit by the military coup in February 2021.

Ma Aeint and Maung Sun co-wrote the script, which centres on a filmmaker coming to terms with the realities of making a debut film and facing down censorship by the authorities, reports Variety Magazine.

The criminal case was not directly related to the film, though it may have made Ma Aeint a target for attention.

She was found guilty of breaching Article 505 (A) of Myanmar’s criminal code, which penalizes “causing fear, spreading fake news or agitating against government employees.” She was alleged to have given money to an illegal organization that opposes the February coup and the return of the country to totalitarian military control, the magazine says.

Ma Aeint pleaded not guilty to the charges and had legal representation at the hearing at a prison court, held within Insein Prison in Yangon.

A film makers group has spoken out. “The human rights situation in Myanmar under its military regime have long been regarded as among the worst in the world,” says ICFR board member and European Film Academy chairman Mike Downey. “This harsh sentencing of Ma Aeint is a clear example and representation of the cruelty of the current regime and its desire to clamp down [on] the basic rights of freedom of expression. The ICFR will continue to campaign for her release and we deplore this act of barbarous sentencing to the full extent of the law.”

ICFR and its founding institutions, the European Film Academy, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and International Film Festival Rotterdam, produced a statement, calling on the Myanmar authorities to immediately and unconditionally release filmmaker Ma Aeint.

“We are very concerned for the well-being of Ma Aeint. We encourage all film and culture institutions around the world to join us in calling upon the Myanmar authorities to immediately and unconditionally release her. If there are any charges against her, they must be made clear, though her safety must first be guaranteed.”