When the summer heat gets going in Myanmar, it’s nearly impossible to survive without fans and air conditioning on at all times. The problem is that since the military disposed of Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup two-and-a-half years ago, there have been rolling blackouts because of the strained power supply.

Like many people, Myanmar rapper Byu Har was sick of the problems so he complained about the electricity minister on his social media. He left his address at the bottom of the video post and dared the government to come and do something about it. They did.

The MC who loves to rap with his shirt off while strumming his guitar was detained on May 24 and charged with spreading propaganda and disrupting the peace and stability of the nation. Byu’s friends and family haven’t heard from him since.

Byu is the son of Naing Myanmar, one of Myanmar’s most well-loved musicians whose song ‘The World Will Not End’ became an anthem of the 1988 uprising. This song has reemerged during the recent civil war that has been raging since 2021.