The 1988 veteran was ‘arrested unjustly and sentenced unfairly’, his lawyer said
Veteran democracy activist Mya Aye, who was arrested on the day of the military coup in February last year, was sentenced to two years in prison by a junta court on Thursday as he marked his 56th birthday.
The activist was a prominent leader of the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and was among the first people to be detained by the new junta last year.
He was sentenced at a court inside Insein Prison, where he has been detained since his arrest, under Section 505c of the Penal Code for “inciting hate towards an ethnicity or a community,” his lawyer Thet Naung said.
A judge from Yangon’s Mingalar Taungnyunt Township Court handed down the sentence, he added.
Mya Aye was arrested at his home in Mingalar Taungnyunt on February 1 last year and charged in mid-March, Thet Naung said, adding that his client would have around a year deducted from his sentence for time served.
Mya Aye needs medical attention for a wound on his foot and for a heart condition, the lawyer said. In October last year, he was admitted to a hospital outside the prison for several days because of an infection in the foot.
“He’s not in very good health,” Thet Naung said. “We asked the court to let him go to an outside hospital [again] but he was not allowed in previous court hearings.”
The charge against Mya Aye relates to an email he sent to a Chinese official seven years ago about Myanmar’s peace process.
He wrote in the email that because of government propaganda and Burmese ethnonationalism, people in Myanmar believed that China was interfering in the peace process and had backed Kokang rebels in their fight against the Myanmar military, according to his case file.
“The plaintiff couldn’t even submit solid evidence against him. He was arrested unjustly and sentenced unfairly,” Thet Naung said.
Mya Aye did not call any defence witnesses but testified for himself, the lawyer added.
Mya Aye spent a total of 12 years behind bars for his role in the 1988 uprising and the 2007 Saffron Revolution. After his release in 2012 he remained politically active, often drawing the military’s anger.
Many of those imprisoned on the day of the military takeover had long been in the generals’ sights for questioning their right to rule
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The four students spent a year and a half in jail for protesting against both the military and Aung San Suu Kyi’s government
Four students who were arrested before last year’s coup for an anti-war protest in Rakhine were released from prison after one and a half years on Friday.
Kyaw Naing Htay, Oo Than Naing, Myat Soe Win and Kaung Tun were detained in the state capital of Sittwe in October 2020 during a protest against the military’s ongoing attacks in the state.
Demonstrators at the rally outside a local government building held signs reading “We don’t want the fascist army,” “We don’t want a colonial government,” and “No Bloody Government, Burmese Government Get Out”.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) government at the time was a vocal supporter of the military’s war against the Arakan Army (AA). State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s administration reportedly called on the military to “crush” the group.
The four students left Sittwe Prison at around 6am after having their sentences reduced, an executive committee member of the Arakan Students’ Union said.
“They had been actually given a two-year-and-six-month sentence but their terms were reduced by one year and they had already served one and a half years, so they were released today,” he told Myanmar Now. “I’m very happy about their release.”
Kyaw Naing Htay’s older brother, Kyaw Min Htay, confirmed the students had been released. “I don’t want to say much but I’m very happy to see them free and in good health,” he told Myanmar Now.
The students were jailed for incitement as well as for allegedly breaching Covid-19 restrictions with the protest. Following an appeal, the court agreed to reduce their sentences in December.
They were denied bail during their trial on the grounds that breaches of the disaster management law that covers Covid-19 restrictions were not bailable.
Several legal aid teams including the Rakhine Lawyers Council, the Sittwe District Lawyers Association, Thazin Legal Aid, and the Legal Clinic Myanmar strongly criticised that decision.
At the time of their arrest the military’s war against the AA had been raging for almost two years, displacing tens of thousands and wounding or killing hundreds of civilians. Amnesty International accused the military of war crimes during the clashes.
After the students’ arrests, the NLD government ignored calls from civil society groups and human rights campaigners to pardon them.
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Sein Chit and his acquaintance face up to seven years in prison
A former parliamentary candidate is among two men in southern Rakhine State who were charged with terrorism offences on Wednesday for allegedly supporting the anti-junta People’s Defence Force (PDF), their lawyer has said.
Sein Chit, 42, competed for a seat for the Arakan Front Party (AFP) in the 2020 general election and is well known in the coastal town for his charitable work. He was charged at the Thandwe Township Court along with Ye Naing Oo, a 24-year-old taxi driver.
The pair face up to seven years in prison under Section 52a of the so-called Counter-Terrorism Law, said Theingi Maung, the lawyer helping with their case.
Section 52a prohibits organising or participating in "terrorist acts" as well as harbouring or arranging transport for any "terrorist" or "member of a terrorist group"
“The two of them pleaded not guilty,” the lawyer said.
The defence will examine a prosecution witness named Sergeant Kyaw Min at the next hearing on March 17, he added.
Sein Chit was arrested at his home on October 9 while Ye Naing Oo was detained at the Ngapali Hotel later that month. A military captain named Nay Zaw Htet from Infantry Battalion 55 filed the case against them.
Ye Naing Oo worked with Sein Chit on local charitable projects.
Sein Chit’s wife, Khin Hnin Phyu, said her husband was arrested based on a statement given under duress by a detained student from Maupin Township in Ayeyarwady Region.
“The student they arrested as a PDF suspect was examined as a witness at Sein Chit’s court hearing two weeks ago and he testified that he had never seen him before and that he only said that he knew him during his interrogation because he was forced to do so,” she said.
Her husband did not give any support to the PDF but he helped a group of students pay for transport in Thandwe at the request of a students’ union, she said.
“He wasn’t funding the PDF. He is a naturally very charitable person. He only helped when his acquaintances asked for help,” she added.
When she met her husband at the court hearing on Wednesday, he had a rash from an allergic reaction and was suffering from a stomach ache, she said.
Min Dipar, a young author from a village named Pan Maw in Mrauk-U Township, was also arrested in October last year. Late last month he was given ten years in prison with hard labour under the anti-terror law.
Last week a young man from Thandwe called Zayar was sentenced to a year and one month in prison for allegedly leading an anti-coup protest.
Over 10 people are facing charges for funding the PDF in Rakhine State. They include Nyein Ei Phyo Kyaw, who was jailed last year along with her two-year-old daughter. The child later died in prison.
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Ethnic representatives who met with Nippon Foundation chair Yohei Sasakawa say the topic of engagement with the junta was not broached in the talks
Yohei Sasakawa, the Japanese special envoy to Myanmar and chair of the Nippon Foundation, met separately with representatives of Karen, Karenni and Shan ethnic armed organisations as well as junta affiliates in neighbouring Thailand on Thursday, with full details of their discussions still undisclosed.
Aid—but not military relations—was brought up in the talks in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, Aung San Myint, the deputy secretary of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) told Myanmar Now. He attended the meeting with Sasakawa along with KNPP chair Khu Oo Reh and Nal Nae Palo from the Karenni Emergency Rescue Team.
“We’ve worked with them regarding education matters before,” he said of the Nippon Foundation. “He invited us to come to the meeting and we agreed to go.”
The meeting was the KNPP’s first with Sasakawa since Myanmar’s coup more than a year ago, Aung San Myint said, adding that the special envoy had shown an interest in the needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the ethnic armed organisation’s area.
“We will have to find more ways to send supplies to IDPs. There is still no plan underway,” he said.
“We will continue to work together with our allies towards federal democracy and the end of the dictatorship,” he continued. “[Sasakawa’s team] said nothing about [political and military affairs] and we are not planning to discuss that matter with them either.”
Clashes between the military and resistance forces including the KNPP’s Karenni Army have been breaking out daily in Karenni (Kayah) State since last year, with civil society estimates indicating that two-thirds of the state’s population have been displaced during that time. The Myanmar Army has frequently carried out airstrikes on civilian areas and used heavy weapons in their attacks in the region.
Padoh Saw Mutu Say Poe, the chair of the Karen National Union (KNU), along with several other officers from the organisation, also met with Sasakawa on Thursday.
KNU spokesperson Padoh Saw Taw Nee, who did not attend the meeting, speculated that the participants likely discussed matters relating to tension in the Karen State town of Lay Kay Kaw in Myawaddy Township, which is located in KNU-administered territory near the Thai-Myanmar border. It was built with financial support from the Nippon Foundation, as a tribute to “peace” in line with the now defunct Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement between the military and some of the country’s ethnic armed organisations, including the KNU.
“They have worked together with our chair before regarding the building of Lay Kay Kaw town. I think they only talked about the matters regarding the Nippon Foundation’s funding of the building of Lay Kay Kaw,” he said, adding that he did not have “much further information” on the meeting.
The junta’s forces dropped bombs around Lay Kay Kaw, Karen State, from a helicopter after the KNU warned them to leave the territory so that displaced persons could return home
Lay Kay Kaw was the site of a major military offensive last December that led to the arrest of striking civil servants and parliamentarians who had sought refuge in KNU territory. The attacks and airstrikes on the area displaced thousands of civilians.
Battles with allied resistance forces there have recently resumed, including with a junta airstrike on Wednesday following a KNU ultimatum to leave the area. A member of a local defence force allied with the KNU said five junta troops were killed in a clash in Lay Kay Kaw on the same day.
Padoh Saw Taw Nee said that there was no reason to discuss political matters in Myanmar with the Nippon Foundation chair. Sasakawa has previously acted as a negotiator between the military and ethnic armed organisations.
“We can’t negotiate with the military council during times like this. Everyone knows what our aims are. There’s nothing to discuss with the military council,” he said.
The Irrawaddy reported on and shared photos from another Thursday meeting in Chiang Mai between military-linked negotiators Hla Maung Shwe and Aung Naing Oo, who, according to the news outlet, were “believed to be brokering on behalf of the regime.” Both worked on peace talks on behalf of previous government administrations.
At the time of reporting, the military council had not released a statement regarding the meeting.
Chair of the Restoration Council of Shan State Yawd Serk and an accompanying delegation also met with Sasakawa, and was seen in The Irrawaddy’s photos.
Earlier this month, Sasakawa visited Cambodia and met with a delegation that included Prime Minister Hun Sen—ASEAN’s chair—and Cambodian foreign affairs minister Prak Sokhonn, who is also ASEAN’s special envoy for Myanmar. The Phnom Penh Post reported that Hun Sen had asked Sasakawa to intervene in addressing the crisis in Myanmar.
There are reports that Sasakawa will go to Naypyitaw to meet with coup leader Min Aung Hlaing on March 20, but Myanmar Now is unable to independently confirm this. Also scheduled for March 20 is the start of a three-day visit to the junta’s administrative capital by ASEAN’s special envoy.
Sasakawa is last known to have met with Min Aung Hlaing in November of last year. At that time, the Japanese minister of foreign affairs said that Sasakawa’s actions were not in affiliation with the Japanese government.
The military council reported that Sasakawa was among the persons who requested the release of American journalist Danny Fenster, who was detained in Insein Prison for nearly six months before being released in November.
A second day of fighting triggered by military raids on Lay Kay Kaw kills five junta soldiers and forces thousands of locals to flee, some into Thailand
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