Buthidaung administrators’ trial delayed by plaintiff’s repeated absences

By Admin 21 Apr 2023

DMG Newsroom
21 April 2023, Buthidaung

The plaintiff in the case against two village administrators from Buthidaung Township under Section 17(1) of Unlawful Association has failed to appear at court hearings for nearly five months, according to family members of the accused.

Captain Nay Lin Oo from a Buthidaung-based Myanmar military battalion filed a complaint against the 59-year-old administrator of Mee Kyaung Zay Village and the 62-year-old administrator of Tet Min Chaung Village, but the captain has failed to show up for nine court hearings over the past five months.

Ko Maung Kyaw Win, the son of the Tet Min Chaung village administrator, said: “The court has heard six prosecution witnesses. But the plaintiff has missed the court hearings. We were told that he has been outside Buthidaung. He did not show up at today’s court hearing either. The next court hearing was scheduled for April 28.”

The two administrators were reportedly beaten with rifle butts when they were arrested, said Daw Anuma, the wife of the Tet Min Chaung administrator.

“He is 62 and he did nothing wrong. It has been around seven months since they were arrested. He is in bad shape, and he still can’t eat well because of the injuries he sustained when he was beaten with a rifle butt. We are concerned for his health, and we want his immediate release,” she said.

DMG was unable to obtain comment from Arakan State security and border affairs minister Colonel Kyaw Thura about the family members’ claim of beating during arrest.

One veteran lawyer from Arakan State said: “According to the nature of the law, one man is innocent until he is convicted by a court. It is not fair for him when he has to stay a long time in prison while he still can’t be held guilty. It is also not fair for his family.”

Military officers of Battalion No. 234 in Buthidaung summoned 12 administrators from nearby villages to a meeting on September 3 of last year. The two village administrators were subsequently detained and prosecuted.

According to a DMG tally, the regime arrested at least 11 administrators during the latest fighting in Arakan State (from August through November of last year) on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army. Three administrators in Maungdaw, three in Buthidaung, one in Minbya, and four in Kyaukphyu were charged under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act.

The regime charged around 50 people in Arakan State under the Unlawful Associations Act, with incitement or on similar charges over their alleged ties to the AA during the latest period of hostilities, and at least 20 of them are suffering from delayed trials, DMG has found.

The AA said it had negotiated with the regime for the release of detained civilians following its ceasefire in November of last year, but few have been released so far.