TOKYO – A Myanmar court on Aug 12 sentenced a Japanese executive from the local unit of supermarket chain operator Aeon to one year in prison for violating rice price controls, Kyodo news agency reported, citing unnamed diplomatic sources.

       A spokesman at the Japanese retail giant confirmed the duration of imprisonment for the official, who worked as head of the products division at the Myanmar unit, but declined to comment on specific charges.

       Myanmar arrested four executives of supermarket chains, including an official of a Japanese joint venture, for selling rice at inflated prices, the country’s state media said in July.

       Myanmar has been in turmoil since its military deposed an elected civilian government in February 2021, sparking widespread protests that have morphed into nationwide armed resistance.

       “We will keep on doing our utmost for an early release,” the Aeon spokesman told Reuters by phone.

       Myanmar’s junta periodically grants amnesty to prisoners.

       In 2022, Japanese documentary filmmaker Toru Kubota was arrested at a protest in Myanmar and sentenced to 10 years for violating sedition and communications laws, but was released later that year in a mass amnesty. REUTERS

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