A focus on four students’ prolonged trial at latest hearing in Sittwe

By DMG 16 Jul 2021

DMG Newsroom
16 July 2021, Sittwe 

Facing charges of incitement and violating Covid-19 regulations, four Arakanese students on Friday demanded the swift conclusion of their case, with their vocal protestations outside the courthouse in Sittwe resulting in an altercation with the police escorting them. 

The four students have been detained for nearly nine months on charges under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code and Section 29 of the Natural Disaster Management Law. 

After the judge adjourned proceedings until the end of the month, the students objected loudly outside the courthouse, calling on the court to render a verdict in their case immediately.  

“The students demanded that they be sentenced today, as the case has been unnecessarily delayed,” explained their lawyer, U Kyaw Nyunt Maung. “The students were not satisfied with the judge’s order that the students would be sentenced on the 30th. The students demanded that they do so today, sparking a scuffle.” 

DMG witnessed a subsequent tightening of security around the courthouse, with five police vehicles dispatched due to the students’ protests. A fellow student who arrived at the courthouse to support the defendants said police told supporters to disperse. 

The Section 505(b) incitement charge and the Section 29 charge, pertaining to alleged breach of Covid-19 regulations, date back to a protest in Sittwe last year.  

The students joined the anti-war demonstration organised by the Arakan Students’ Union on October 19, with protesters’ slogans including “No Fascist Army”, “No Colonial Government”, “No Bloody Government”, and “Burmese Government Get Out”. 

The four defendants — Ko Kyaw Naing Htay, Ko Oo Than Naing and Ko Mrat Soe Win from the Arakan Students’ Union, and Ko Kaung Tun from the Arakan Students’ Union (Universities - Yangon) — were arrested by police during the protest. 

Section 505(b) of the Penal Code criminalises statements “likely to cause fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public, whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquility.” It carries with it a maximum sentence of two years in prison.