Dozens of Arakan State residents charged with alleged AA ties released in junta amnesty

By Admin 02 Aug 2023

DMG Newsroom
2 August 2023, Sittwe
 
Some Arakan State residents charged and behind bars for their alleged ties to the Arakan Army (AA) were released in a junta amnesty on Tuesday.
 
The regime granted amnesty to 72 individuals facing trial at various courts for their alleged ties to ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) on Tuesday to mark the Full Moon Day of Waso, a religious holiday in Myanmar.
 
In Arakan State, residents charged under the Unlawful Associations Act for allegedly having ties to the AA were released in the amnesty.
 
Ko Kyaw Hein and U Maung Saw Thar in Kyauktaw Township, facing trial for violation of the Unlawful Associations Act, were set free on Wednesday, family members confirmed to The Irrawaddy.
 
Ma Aye Than, the wife of Ko Kyaw Hein, said: “Both my husband and his co-defendant U Maung Saw Thar were released.”
 
Ko Kyaw Hein was arrested by the Myanmar military while travelling from Kavi Yadana displacement camp to Maha Kangyishin displacement camp in July of last year, and was subsequently charged under Section 17(1) and (2) of the Unlawful Associations Act.
 
Motorbike taxi driver U Maung Saw Thar, from Thayet Tabin Village in Kyauktaw Township, was arrested in August of last year while taking two customers to the Maha Myat Muni Buddha image.
 
DMG has learnt that dozens more residents — 16 from Thandwe, 11 from Sittwe and 14 from Buthidaung — facing the same charges under the Unlawful Associations Act were also released.
 
“All 16 people who were charged under the Unlawful Associations Act, including Ko San Ko, were released today from Thandwe Prison,” a friend of Ko San Ko told DMG.
 
Ma Nu Yin Than said she was notified that her brother Ko Khin Zaw, a resident of Mingalar Nyunt Village in Maungdaw Township, would be released on Wednesday.
 
“I am now outside Buthidaung Prison waiting for my brother to be released,” she told DMG.
 
Family members were also seen waiting outside Sittwe Prison on Wednesday. 

“We were informed that he would be released today. We are still waiting,” said a family member from Agnumaw Village in Rathedaung Township.
 
Myanmar’s military regime on Tuesday announced a mass amnesty for a total of 7,749 inmates across Myanmar, including 22 members of EAOs and the 72 individuals with alleged ties to EAOs.