Court set to deliver verdict in terrorism case against Lekka villagers at hearing next week

By DMG 28 Oct 2021

DMG Newsroom
28 October 2021, Mrauk-U 

A court in Mrauk-U is set to rule in a terrorism case against more than 20 Lekka villagers at their next court hearing, according to a local law firm involved in the case. 

The Lekka villagers appeared before the court in Mrauk-U on October 28 and gave a final appeal in the case, in which they are charged under various sections of the Counter-Terrorism Law for alleged links to the Arakan Army (AA). 

The court will render its verdict on November 5, said U Aung Sitt Min, a lawyer for the Min Htee Law Firm. 

“The court will make a final decision at the next court hearing after the villagers have submitted their final appeal. Both cases are in the final stages,” the lawyer explained. 

The defendants, residents of Lekka village in Mrauk-U Township, were arrested in April 2019 and have since been facing multiple charges under the Counter-Terrorism Law, and Section 21(a) of the Arms Act. 

The villagers have been on trial for more than two years, and their families continue to struggle financially as the detained villagers have remained behind bars. 

“Not only the detainees but we too are being subjected to human rights abuses,” said Daw San Thar Nu, the mother of 24-year-old Ko Oo Hla Maung, who is one of the Lekka defendants. “We have been facing various difficulties because of the arrest of the men. Why were the villagers not released, even though cases were closed by the military council?” 

Myanmar’s military regime has withdrawn some of the cases prosecuted under the Counter-Terrorism Law in Arakan State after it de-listed the Arakan Army as a terrorist organisation in March. 

“Cases have been dropped, but they have not been included in the government’s withdrawals,” U Aung Sitt Min said of the Lekka villagers’ case. “It hurts the accused a lot. The testimony of witnesses during the trial did not prove to be true. It is very painful for them [the defendants] to be imprisoned for years.” 

For months, family members have been hoping that loved ones facing Counter-Terrorism Law charges in relation to alleged AA links would be released after the junta removed the designation of the ethnic armed organisation as a terrorist group on March 11. Dozens of cases have since been dropped, but dozens of others remain before the courts.

The Min Htee Law Firm has urged the relevant authorities to help strengthen the judiciary and consider the rights of the accused.