Dutch tourist jailed in Myanmar thought Buddhist ceremony was kids’ party

DutchNews, November 4, 2016

The Dutch tourist jailed for three months in Myanmar after disrupting a religious meeting, thought he was breaking up a children’s party, his girlfriend has told the Volkskrant.

‘We thought it was a kids party in a sort of squat, not a Buddhist service,’ Nathalie Stoop told the paper. ‘The building did not look like a temple otherwise he would never have done it.’ 

Klaas Haytema, 30, was give the minimum term possible by the court last month and will remain in jail until December. He is not allowed visitors or phone calls, the paper said. 

Stoop said she had not seen him since the court case and is worried about him. The only word about his welfare they have had is from a Canadian man who spent nine days in the same jail and said Haytema is finding things difficult. 

The couple had just started on a trip around the world when Haytema was arrested.