Junta still prosecuting civilians on serious charges of sedition for alleged links to AA, despite Rakhine ceasefire

Narinjara News December 24, 2022

The ceasefire agreed between with the Arakan Army (AA), the Military Council and negotiated by a third party. has not made any difference to the prosecuting of civilians arrested on suspicion of AA links and clearly demonstrates the regime’s lack of sincerity and any real desire for peace,.

A mill owner U Hla Maung Than was prosecuted with a new charge of Sedition against the Military under Article 131 of the Penal Code, at the December 19th trial, his wife, Daw Hla Yin San, confirmed to Narinjara. “He was charged with Section 131. I don’t understand much about the law. People are saying that the new charge is a much more serious one. He has injuries from torture and is in poor health. While he was in custody he was not allowed to receive medical treatment, so I had to buy him medicine from outside”, she said.

U Hla Maung Than and his companion Maung Thet Soe were arrested when they went to meet

the commander of the Kan Sauk-based infantry Battalion, after he summoned U Hla Maung Than saying there was a matter to discuss.

U Hla Maung Than, a mill owner from Thazin (aka) Kadi village in Kyauktaw township, who had previously been charged under Section 17(1) of Unlawful Association Act, was charged with Sedition against the Military under Article 131 of the Penal Code, and Ko Kyaw Win Hlaing, a resident of Kyauk Riz Kay neighborhood in Mrauk-U township, who was previously charged with Section 505(A) of Inciting Unrest, was additionally charged with Section 17(1) of Unlawful Association Act.

Military Council troops forcibly arrested Ko Kyaw Win Hlaing and took him to the Mrauk-U-based 540 Division for an inspection when he left home to drive a Tuk Tuk (auto rickshaw) on June 22nd.  Ko Kyaw Win Hlaing (32), who is now receiving medical treatment in Yangon due to interrogation and torture in military custody, has also been charged under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Association Act, his wife Ma Hla Myint told Narinjara.

 “ Currently, the case is still being heard. On December 16th, a new charge was filed against him under Section 17(1). We cannot afford to hire a lawyer. So, we have to plead without a lawyer,” she explained.

  In Rakhine, many innocent civilians have been arrested since before the renewed fighting between AA and the Military Council. Some have been released, but others are still being detained and interrogated. Some of them are also victims of prosecution in the courts..