INGO staffer in Sittwe charged with incitement for Facebook post, sources say

By DMG 24 Feb 2022

DMG Newsroom
24 February 2022, Sittwe

A training officer for the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Myanmar in Sittwe has been arrested under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code, according to the Arakan State Police Commander’s Office.

The LWF staffer, Ko Hlaing Myo Aung, was detained on Wednesday morning, sources said.

“He was sued over the news posted on his Facebook account,” a police officer, who declined to be named, told DMG. “There are also monitoring groups online. He was charged under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code and we are questioning him.”

Section 505(a) covers incitement, and the Penal Code provision has been used frequently by the junta to jail critics since it seized power in a coup on February 1, 2021.

Ko Hlaing Myo Aung was being interrogated at the Sittwe Myoma police station after having been taken from his home on February 23 of this year, according to a source close to the detainee.

“We don’t know why he was arrested. It is known that he was taken away from his rented room at around 10 a.m. yesterday,” the source added.

Ko Hlaing Myo Aung was abducted by five men in plainclothes, according to neighbours.

“The five men in civilian clothes came from the other side of the road. We thought that they were Ko Hlaing Myo Aung’s friends,” an unnamed neighbour said.

DMG visited LWF Myanmar’s Sittwe branch office to inquire about the arrest of Ko Hlaing Myo Aung, but an official from the organisation declined to comment.