He became an outspoken supporter of the pro-democracy movement following the February coup, taking part in protests on the streets and urging his more than one million followers on Facebook and Instagram to join in.

“Help us stop crime against humanity,” he wrote in one Instagram post. His social media accounts were deleted after his arrest.

Khin Maung Myint, his lawyer, told the AFP on Tuesday that Mr Takhon has been “jailed for three years with hard labour” and that the family, “deeply saddened” by the sentence, still haven’t decided whether or not to appeal. 

A close acquaintance told the BBC that Mr Takhon was fully aware of the consequences of his activism and “not scared at all” at the time of his arrest.  

Hundreds of thousands of mostly young protesters took to the streets of cities across Myanmar in an uprising that became known as the Spring Revolution after army chief Min Aung Hlaing arrested Ms Suu Kyi and imposed military rule.

The junta responded with a violent crackdown that has killed more than 1300 people to date. 

Anti-junta fighters said on Tuesday that regime forces had massacred several dozen civilians in the east of the country.

Save the Children yesterday/TUES confirmed that two of their missing staff members were among 35-plus charred bodies found in Kayah state.

Both staff members were new fathers and were on their way back to their office after work in a nearby village when they were forced from their cars by government troops and killed alongside other civilians, the charity said in a press release.

“This news is absolutely horrifying” said Gwen Hines, Chief Executive of Save the Children UK. 

“Violence against innocent civilians including aid workers is intolerable, and this senseless attack is a breach of International Humanitarian Law,” he added.