Online signatures seek release of Arakanese politician Dr. Aye Maung and writer

By Min Tun 16 Dec 2020

Min Tun | DMG
16 December 2020, Sittwe 

More than 130 signatures demanding the release of politician Dr. Aye Maung and the writer Wai Hun Aung, who were both sentenced to 20 years in prison for sedition and high treason in 2019, were sent to top government leaders on December 15.  

The 135 signatures collected online from internet users at home and abroad were sent to the offices of the president and state counsellor, and the Ministry of Home Affairs, said U Khaing Mrat Kyaw, editor-in-chief of the Sittwe-based Narinjara News Agency. 

“Dr. Aye Maung and writer Wai Hun Aung were unjustly arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison. We have a responsibility for their release. As an Arakanese, I have intervened for their release and acted as a citizen without any political affiliation or party affiliation,” he added. 

The signatures were collected online from November 20, and as of December 14, 135 signatures had been received and were sent to the government leaders, he explained. 

Dr. Aye Maung and writer Wai Hun Aung were arrested after giving talks at a public event held in Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township in 2018 to mark the anniversary of the Arakan Kingdom’s fall to the Konbaung dynasty in 1785.  

The duo were sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment by the Sittwe District Court on March 19,  2019, for sedition and high treason.  

Dr. Aye Maung was a founding member of the Arakan Fronty Party, and prior to that was chairman of the Arakan National Party and of the now defunct Rakhine Nationalities Development Party.  

U Khaing Mrat Kyaw told DMG that Arakanese people believe that the imprisonment of Dr. Aye Maung and Wai Hun Aung was an injustice to Arakanese leaders. He went on to say that the two men needed to be released if the government wanted to see peace and national reconciliation in Arakan State.  

“The incumbent government knows more about why Dr. Aye Maung and the writer Wai Hun Aung were arrested and imprisoned. They are thought to have been detained for political reasons and are expected to be released soon,” he said.  

Dr. Aye Maung and Wai Hun Aung are currently being held at Insein Prison in Yangon, where they have served more than a year and a half of their sentences. 

Their release depends on the development of peace in Arakan State, said Dr. Myo Nyunt, a spokesman for the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), which won a landslide victory in last month’s general election.