Ploughing protesters highlight land grab grievances in Myanmar

Myanmar's swift economic development has been marked by the rise of a new class of political dissidents: the ploughing protesters.

They are farmers and activists angry that developers have snatched away farmland, rights groups say.

Five farmers were arrested on January 2 for trespassing on land they had been farming for decades - the day after President Thein Sein announced on national radio that all of Myanmar's political prisoners had been freed, said Nay Myo Zin, a former military captain who runs the Yangon-based charity Myanmar Social Development Network.

The farmers had staged a ploughing protest, tilling land - some with oxen - that had been theirs until it was confiscated by an agribusiness, the men's relatives said.

The five men from Irrawaddy region's Maung Mya district were tried, sentenced and jailed on the same day, their relatives said.

A government spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Nay Myo Zin, who himself has twice been jailed since the president took office, said thousands of farmers embroiled in land disputes were facing similar charges nationwide. More than 230 had been jailed in Irrawaddy region alone, he said. Most were convicted of trespassing or violating a 2012 law that ordered jail time if someone did not obtain a permit before holding a public demonstration, he said.