| Wai Moe Naing | |
| Birth Place: | Burma |
Wai Moe Naing (Burmese: ဝေမိုးနိုင်; born 26 September 1995), also known as Monywa Panda, is a Burmese writer, politician, activist and one of the most prominent leaders of anti-coup movement in Myanmar.[1] [2] He rose to prominence for his role organising daily anti-coup protests in Monywa.[3]
At the age of thirteen, his first short story "Pwint Chain Tan Lyin" was published on Phoo Ngone Se Kyaw Thet, a magazine. He wrote several short stories on the local magazines such as Yokeshin Tay Kabyar, Mahaythi, and Yanat Thit.
Wai Moe Naing is a member of Monywa's General Strike Committee and the Sagaing Regional Youth Committee. He served the chair of the Monywa University Student Union from 2014 to 2015.[4] [5] On 15 April 2021, he was hit by a car and arrested by the junta's armed forces. He was charged with murder, unlawful assembly, wrongful confinement, abduction with intent to murder, and incitement.[6] [7] During the trial, Wai Moe Naing was forced to represent himself, after his lawyers, were arrested. On 12 August 2022, a military court found him guilty of multiple counts of incitement, which is commonly used by the military junta to target regime critics, and sentenced to 10 years in prison.[8] On 20 October, he was sentenced to an additional 4 years for incitement and violation of COVID-19 restrictions.[9] The sentence has been condemned by PEN America.[10]