A reminder that, in some countries, snark and humanitarianism have a steep price.
BBC reports:
A popular comedian active in Burma's democracy movement has been sentenced to 45 years in jail by a Burmese court.
Zarganar was found to have violated the Electronics Act, which regulates electronic communications.
He's accused of criticizing the government for talking to foreign reporters and distributing emergency resources to victims of Cyclone Nargis. Imagine if making fun of Bush over Katrina while helping people in need landed you in jail for life.
More of the BBC report below the fold.
More from the BBC:
More than 100 activists have been sentenced over the past two weeks in a judicial crackdown across the spectrum of Burma's pro-democracy movement.
Some people have been sentenced to terms as long as 65 years.
Many took part in protests against the ruling junta sparked by fuel and food price rises in August 2007.
Be thankful our transfer of power is so peaceful, that our comedians aren't thrown into prisons, and our government knows how to handle a humanitarian crisis.
Well, two out of three ain't bad.
The BBC's South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head says the sentence passed down on the comedian seems staggeringly severe: 45 years in prison, and he still faces further charges.
However, our correspondent says, it fits the pattern of other sentences given to more than 100 other dissidents over the past two weeks.
These include 65 years to the key members of the so-called 88 Generation of activists, and a total of 68 years to Ashin Gambira, leader of the monks' alliance that led last year's anti-government uprising.
Our correspondent says such breathtakingly disproportionate punishments send two clear messages from the generals who rule Burma: that they will brook no opposition in the lead-up to their carefully managed transition to what they are calling a "discipline-flourishing democracy"; and that they are unconcerned what the rest of the world thinks.
The military rulers of Burma are building democracy, one incarcerated Samaritan at a time. It's hard to imagine what anyone here in the West could do to help this man. Reports are that the UN and rights groups are protesting his sentence. It's not like we'll invade and spread democracy. I suppose until some kind of charity is founded in his name, (which I will update with I can track one down) we he'll be on his own to follow Mark Twain's advice: "The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter." Nothing very funny about it, I'm afraid.