He is also a former political prisoner who was given a three-year jail sentence in 2010 for filming “without permission” while investigating a water shortage in Nat Mauk, in the central Magway region. Released in a January 2012 amnesty, he went back to work at once. His journalistic dedication got him into trouble a few months later when he investigated a Japanese-funded scholarship programme in Magway. A local education department official filed a complaint accusing him of trespassing on government property and disturbing a civil servant in the course of his duties. In April 2014, almost two years after the complaint, Zaw Phay was sentenced to a year in prison under articles 448 and 353 of the penal code. He is currently serving the sentence in Thet prison.