Court postpones verdict for two Ponnagyun Twsp villagers charged with terrorism

By DMG 02 Jun 2022

DMG Newsroom
2 June 2022, Ponnagyun 

A verdict in the case of two men from Ai Tin village in Ponnagyun Township, who were arrested on suspicion of having links with the Arakan Army (AA) in March 2020, was again postponed by the Sittwe District Court on June 2, according to the defence lawyer. 

The Sittwe District Court postponed the hearing because the judge was reportedly not ready to deliver a verdict at Thursday’s hearing. 

“The judge has been instructed to deliver a verdict as soon as possible after the case has been finalised. The judge said the case is being investigated,” U Kyaw Nyunt Maung, a lawyer representing the defendants, told DMG. 

All prosecution witnesses in the case against the two men have been examined, but the court has left it for nearly a year without a ruling. The court rescheduled the next hearing for June 15, according to the lawyer. 

U Maung Saw Aye, 32, and his nephew Ko Nay Lin Htay, 25, were arrested at the Kyauktan checkpoint on the outskirts of Sittwe on March 5, 2020, upon returning to their village in Ponnagyun Township by motorbike. 

Captain Aung Phyo Myint from the Myanmar military’s No. 907 Engineering Regiment filed a lawsuit against the two men under the Counter-Terrorism Law. 

Family members have demanded that the court deliver a verdict as soon as possible, as the men’s legal limbo has dragged on for more than two years. 

“They have been facing trial for two years and three months. He is the breadwinner in our family. We have been struggling to make ends meet since his arrest,” said U Maung Phyu Chay, the father of Ko Maung Saw Aye. 

Meanwhile the trial of five Kyaukseik villagers who have been detained for more than two years on suspicion of being related to the Arakan Army continues, and family members are frustrated that the court again rescheduled a hearing without an expected ruling on Wednesday. 

More than 70 people are currently facing trial and remain behind bars in various prisons for alleged AA ties, according to data compiled by local civil society organisations in Arakan State.