Court yet to deliver verdict for two Ponnagyun Twsp men accused of terrorism in 2020

By DMG 08 Apr 2022

DMG Newsroom
8 April 2022, Ponnagyun 

Two locals from Ai Tin village in Ponnagyun Township who were arrested on suspicion of having links with the Arakan Army (AA) in March 2020 have been detained for more than two years, on trial and awaiting a long-delayed court ruling. 

The court scheduled a hearing for April 29 of last year, at which a final verdict in the case was to be delivered as all prosecution witnesses in the case against the two men had been examined. But the court has since postponed the hearing for nearly a year without a ruling, U Kyaw Nyunt Maung, a lawyer involved in the case, told DMG. 

“The court said it was not ready for a verdict. In my more than 20 years as a lawyer, I have never seen such postponement for years of a verdict by a court. The court scheduled a hearing for April 21 to deliver a final verdict,” the lawyer said. 

The two men have been identified as U Maung Saw Aye, 32, and his nephew Ko Nay Lin Htay, 25. The duo were charged under Section 50(j) and Section (a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law by the Myanmar military. 

Daw Aung Than Nu, the mother of Ko Nay Lin Htay, demanded that the court verdict be delivered as soon as possible. 

“There is nothing wrong with them. I just want them both released as soon as possible. I have financial difficulties attending the court hearings because I earn a living as an odd-job worker. I want them both to be released safely,” she added. 

They 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 on terrorism charges. 

They are currently being held in Sittwe Prison and are in good health, according to family members.