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Myanmar releases anti-Muslim monk as opposition calls for revolt
Ashin Wirathu -- once dubbed by Time magazine as the "Buddhist Bin Laden" for his role in stirring up religious hatred in Myanmar -- was released after all charges against him were dropped, a statement said.
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Buddhist monk Wirathu gestures to his followers before turning himself in at a Yangon police station on November 2, 2020. (AFP/Ye Aung Thu)
M
yanmar's junta said on Monday it had released a firebrand anti-Muslim Buddhist monk jailed by Aung San Suu Kyi's toppled government on sedition charges.
Ashin Wirathu -- once dubbed by Time magazine as the "Buddhist Bin Laden" for his role in stirring up religious hatred in Myanmar -- was released after all charges against him were dropped, a statement said.
He was "receiving treatment at a military hospital" it added, without give any details on why he had been hospitalised.
The 53-year-old has long been known for his nationalist anti-Islamic rhetoric -- particularly against the stateless Rohingya Muslim community.
In 2017, Myanmar's highest Buddhist authority banned him from preaching for one year over his tirades.
After the ban expired, however, the pro-military preacher once again became a regular at nationalist rallies, where he accused the government of corruption and fumed against its failed attempts to re-write the junta-scripted constitution.
He had been facing charges for attempting to bring "hatred or contempt" and of "exciting disaffection" towards the then-government of democracy leader Suu Kyi.
