Bowman, who served as UK ambassador to Myanmar from 2002 to 2006, and her husband were arrested Aug 24 on charges of violating immigration laws, and held in Yangon detention centres.

The charges concerned the registration of a second address in Myanmar and carried a maximum five-year prison term. The couple lived at a house owned by Htein Lin in the Shan state town of Kalaw, but maintained a Yangon apartment.

Their trial had been set for Sept 6. But Myanmar’s military regime in Naypyidaw made an unusual move to fast track the case, and they were tried in a court in prison.

“We’ve seen some big local business names arrested, we’ve seen executives harassed and also blocked from leaving the country — but the message from Vicky’s arrest and sentencing is that nobody — nobody — is safe, no matter who you are,” said a Yangon-based expatriate businessman.

Bowman was well known in Myanmar and often spoke out on business issues. She led the Myanmar Center for Responsible Business, an independent research and advocacy group formed in 2013 and funded by some organisations and countries including the UK, Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Ireland and Denmark.

The centre conducted training, seminars and research, and had coordinated joint statements by businesses, both foreign and local, airing concerns about internet restrictions and other actions by the military regime, which took power from Myanmar’s elected government on Feb 1, 2021.

Bowman, a fluent Burmese speaker, had many connections across the political spectrum stretching back to her time as ambassador. Her husband, a former political prisoner and one of the country’s best known contemporary artists, was a supporter of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement.

While many expatriates and locals in Yangon expressed shock at the couple’s arrest, another expat businessman noted that the case from the regime’s viewpoint was “perfectly logical, if you want to make an example of someone.”

“She was an obvious — and high-profile — target, well known to all, a former UK envoy but now an ordinary citizen, and married to a former 88-er,” he said, referring to the generation of dissidents in the 1988 student activist movement.

The allegation in the arrest involved a minor violation of immigration reporting requirements.

“This is clearly a calculated move by the regime, possibly a warning to all expatriates to stay out of internal affairs,” said one Yangon-based diplomat.

But many in the business community consider the arrest ironic: Bowman was among the few remaining advocates for companies to stay in Myanmar, even as the economy reeled under harsh new regulations and banking chaos amid a steady exodus of Western and some Asian corporations. The kyat currency has collapsed by two-thirds since the military takeover as inflation has soared and foreign currency restrictions have hampered companies.

“More than anything, the fact that a business advocate who was actually trying to help the economy could be arrested like this has totally alarmed the business community,” said another Yangon executive. “We will see many more departures from now on.”

The case also heightens London’s diplomatic challenge after Myanmar’s leadership, known as the State Administration Council, expelled UK ambassador designate Pete Vowles in July.

Vowles was named ambassador a year earlier but had not presented his credentials to Naypyidaw, despite the regime’s repeated insistence. After the UK downgraded his title to charge d’affaires, Myanmar blocked Vowles from reentering the country for months while he was on a regional trip and demanded that London send a replacement.

In recent months, Naypyitaw has delayed visa issuance to British diplomatic staff who have been posted to Myanmar, forcing some diplomats to do their jobs outside the country.

Separate complications arose last year over the status of Myanmar’s ambassador to the UK, who was locked out of his country’s embassy in London by pro-regime staff but refused to move out of his official residence, despite being dismissed by the regime. A diplomatic standoff ensued over Myanmar’s efforts to replace him.

Some analysts link the Bowman case to London’s recent sanctions on several Myanmar military-linked companies — announced hours before the couple’s arrest — and also the UK’s accompanying decision to join the Rohingya genocide case against Myanmar filed by Gambia at the International Court of Justice. UK officials speaking privately strongly dismissed the notion, saying only that the reasons for the arrest are unknown.

Others who followed the case suggest that some of her social media posts — while avoiding direct criticism of the regime — may have raised its ire.

The rapid court decision has fuelled speculation that Naypyidaw may deport Bowman and her family to the UK. The couple have a teenage daughter. British officials declined to comment, though it is understood that discussions are ongoing about Bowman’s case.

Earlier yesterday, a military-run court in Myanmar sentenced former state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi to a further three years in prison on election fraud charges. She has denied all accusations, and the trials have been widely condemned by critics as politically motivated. She has been sentenced to a total of 20 years on 11 counts, with several charges remaining that could amount to nearly 200 years in prison. The new sentence includes hard labour.