Final appeal in Taungup philanthropist’s trial to be heard next week

By DMG 22 Feb 2022

DMG Newsroom
22 February 2022, Taungup 

A final appeal in the case of philanthropist Ko Aung Win Naing from Arakan State’s Taungup town, who has been charged on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA), will be heard at the next court hearing, according to a lawyer involved. 

“Both sides will have to submit a final appeal at the next hearing at the township court. The case has been investigated. The court scheduled the next hearing for February 28,” U Aung Kyi Naing, the defence lawyer, told DMG. 

Ko Aung Win Naing, who chairs the Moe Pyinnyar Dana Philanthropic Association, was arrested by military personnel on June 5, 2021, near Phone Nyo Taung checkpoint on the Taungup-Thandwe road. Captain Kyaw Zin Oo opened the case against him under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act. 

A traffic police officer from Taungup Myoma police station has also brought a charge against him for allegedly driving an unregistered vehicle, under Section 8 of the Export and Import Law. 

Ko Aung Win Naing is currently being held at the Taungup Myoma police station and suffers from frequent chest pains, according to his family, which told DMG that he had nothing to do with the Arakan Army. 

“My husband is innocent and has been detained for so long. I want him released as soon as possible,” Daw Twe Tar Soe, the wife of Ko Aung Win Naing, told DMG. 

The Moe Pyinnyar Dana Philanthropic Association, located in Moe Taung village about eight miles from Taungup, was formed in April 2021, and currently runs the Moe Pyinnyar Dana training school. The school offers vocational training, including computer classes and English-language proficiency courses. 

In a February 12 gesture marking Union Day, Myanmar’s military regime released nearly 50 people who were detained and facing trial on charges related to alleged AA affiliations. But about 70 people arrested in recent years on suspicion of illegal AA ties have yet to be released, according to the author Wai Hun Aung, a former political prisoner who is monitoring the situation.