Court in Sittwe again delays verdict for ‘Kyaukseik five’ villagers accused of terrorism

By DMG 01 Jun 2022

DMG Newsroom
1 June 2022, Ponnagyun 

A verdict in the case of five men from Kyaukseik village, Ponnagyun Township, and nearby who were detained in 2020 and charged on suspicion of having illegal ties to the Arakan Army (AA) was postponed by the Sittwe District Court on Wednesday, according to a lawyer involved. 

“The Sittwe District Court rescheduled the hearing for June 15 because the judge was reportedly not ready to deliver a verdict during today’s hearing. The judge said the case is being investigated,” defence lawyer U Kyaw Nyunt Maung told DMG. 

The five men have been charged by Captain Tint Naing Tun from the military’s Ponnagyun-based Battalion No. 550 under Sections 50(j) and 52(a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law. 

All of the witnesses in the case against the five men have been examined, but a verdict has yet to be delivered. Family members say the defendants have been immeasurably harmed by repeated delays to a verdict.

The defendants’ families have maintained their innocence throughout the trial proceedings, and have run up against financial difficulties as the court has dithered. 

“Family members of the detained Kyaukseik villagers are unable to come to the court hearings because we have no money. We can no longer trust that the court will deliver a verdict,” said Daw Ni Ni Aye, the mother of defendant Ko Nyi Nyi Aung. 

The five defendants, all from Ponnagyun Township’s Kyaukseik village and the surrounding area, were arrested by the Myanmar military on April 19, 2020. 

The five men are Ko Nyi Nyi Aung, Ko Aung Myo Lin, and Ko Maung Chay, all 24 years old and from Kyaukseik village; Ko Min Soe, 38, from Ponnagyun town; and Ko Kyaw Win Hein, 22, from Zeebingyi village in neighbouring Mrauk-U Township. 

They have been on trial for more than two years, and family members have asked the presiding judge to speed up their legal proceedings. 

A video of the five villagers being beaten during interrogation by Myanmar military soldiers aboard a naval vessel was shared widely on social media in May of 2020. 

More than 70 people in Arakan State are currently facing trial and remain behind bars in various prisons for alleged AA ties, according to figures compiled by civil society organisations in Arakan State.