ANP requests government to oversee the case of members of AA(S)

18 Jul 2019

Phadu Tun Aung | DMG

18 July, Sittwe

The Arakan National Party (ANP) released a statement yesterday requesting the government to issue factual information in a timely fashion regarding the case of leaders of the Arakan Association (Singapore) who were deported from Singapore.

The statement said that some accused in Arakan State were killed in custody while some are being detained in police stations indefinitely; they have not been prosecuted in accordance with judicial procedures and some have not been issued a date to appear in court for a trial during their incarceration.

Thus, we call on the government to supervise authorities who are carrying out legal actions against the people who have been charged and to proceed in compliance with the proper legal principles, the ANP said in the statement.

Meanwhile, two Pyidaungsu Hluttaw representatives from Kyauktaw Township asked the Supporting Committee for Peace and Stability in Arakan State chaired by vice speaker of Amyotha Hluttaw U Aye Thar Aung to help get information to Ko Tin Hlaing Oo and Ma Aye Myat Mon and to help them contact their families.

“According to the rights of a citizen, the information where they are detained should be made available to all parties concerned. It is easy for top leaders to receive information, just by asking. That’s why we asked him to help us,” Pyithu Hluttaw representative U Oo Tun Win, who asked for help from the vice speaker of Amyotha Hluttaw, told the DMG.

Six top leaders from the AA (S) including Aung Mrat Kyaw, brother of the AA chief, were arrested by the Singaporean government on 9 and 10 July on suspicion raising financial aid for the AA and were deported to Myanmar.

Ko Tin Hlaing Oo and Ma Aye Myat Mon, two of them, were arrested in Myanmar near Nay Pyi Taw on 11 July, but their information including the location they have been detained have not been known yet and family members and Arakanese people are worried about them.

Other four deportees: Ko Aung Myat Kyaw, Ko Aye Tun, Ko Hein Zaw and Ko Thar Lay (aka) Ye Kyaw Htet were reportedly arrested on 12 July at Yangon International Airport, but the DMG could not confirm the location where they have been detained.

The Myanmar government has not yet released any statement regarding the case of Arakanese people deported from Singapore.