Burma: Dutch tourist charged with insulting Buddhism after pulling plug on sermon

On September 23rd, a Dutch citizen was arrested and now faces the possibility of jail time after he allegedly unplugged an amplifier that was being used by Buddhist monks to broadcast a sermon during a festival for Buddhist Lent. He is being investigated on charges of insulting religious beliefs in Myanmar and will be charged in court with this crime. Reading through multiple articles for the same event, I noticed that only one source, the Asian Correspondent, included words from the offender (who allegedly committed the crime because he was upset by the noise so late at night). (https://asiancorrespondent.com/2016/09/burma-dutch-tourist-charged/)

While I personally see this specific case as one of disrespecting the culture of a nation in which you are a guest, this is not the first time that Buddhist followers and tourists have clashed, and the overall issue is much less black and white. Other incidents include a foreign business man and his Burmese colleagues charged for using images of a psychedelic Buddha with headphones to promote a bar, to a Spanish tourist deported from Bagan for sporting a Buddha tattoo on his leg.

This editorial in The Myanmar Times (http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/lifestyle/21634-inking-without-thinking...) is an interesting read and argues that many of these offenders were willfully ignorant of the implications of their actions in the culture of foreign nation. However it should be noted that articles from the Myanmar Times (or other Burmese sources) on these issues usually deprive the accused of a voice and I have yet to find an article on the dangerously slippery slope that is charging people with insult to religion and freedom of expression. Impossible to ignore also is that any time such an issue arises in Myanmar, it is always in reference to Buddhism, never Islam or Christianity although discrimination against these religions are rampant.

Articles of other incidents:
http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2016/07/13/tourist-deported-from-myanmar-o...
http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/13570-two-and-a-half-year...