Min Oak Myanmar, aka Byuhar, a well-known rapper in Myanmar, has been arrested and detained by the country’s military for insulting the junta’s ministers.

Due to the escalating power outages in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, the 38-year-old rapper censured the Myanmar military, calling the junta’s ministers “incompetent fools” on social media. He also dared them to arrest him by providing his home address.

On May 24, he was taken into custody at his home in the Yangon suburb of North Dagon.

In his social media rant, Byuhar praised the overthrown and incarcerated Aung San Suu Kyi government in a Facebook video for providing “24-hour electricity, not only that, but the electricity bill was also going down during her five years in office.” 

According to Voice of America, the arrest has raised concerns about his well-being as he was held incommunicado by the Myanmar military for five days.

After initially denying knowledge about Byuhar’s whereabouts, the police allowed his family to see him. 

“He was being held at the North Dagon police station, so I took our two kids to see him there,” his wife told VOA. 

In an interview on Monday, his wife told VOA that her husband could not get legal aid because the military declared their neighbourhood to be in a “state of emergency,” paving the way for civilians to be tried in a military court. 

The rapper’s arrest is the government’s clampdown against many artistes who have spoken out against the regime. 

Last year, the military executed an artiste, Phyo Zaya Thaw, for his involvement in the anti-coup movement.