ULA/AA court sentences man convicted of high-profile murder in Sittwe to death

03 Feb 2023

DMG Newsroom
3 February 2023, Sittwe

The United League of Arakan (ULA), the political wing of the Arakan Army (AA), handed down the death sentence to a man convicted of killing a young woman near the state government offices in the Arakan State capital Sittwe last year.

A ULA court ruled on Friday that Myo Myint Zaw would be “hanged until death” for killing Ma Thandar Win, 18, a resident of Sittwe’s Mingan Ward, in August.

“The ULA/AA court handed down the death sentence for culprit Myo Myint Zaw this morning under Section 302 of Penal Code. He will be hanged until death,” ULA/AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha told DMG on Friday.

The AA spokesman claimed that the perpetrator also raped the victim, but declined to elaborate. The culprit can submit an appeal to the ULA High Court, he added.

Ma Thandar Win was stabbed to death at her place of employment, a consumer goods shop near the Arakan State government offices, on August 15, 2022. 

The broad-daylight murder shocked Sittwe residents, and inspired campaigns calling for justice to be served for Ma Thandar Win. Both the regime and the AA detained separate suspects in parallel investigations into the killing, with the AA naming Myo Myint Zaw as the murderer on August 31.

Maung Myo Chit Soe, the other suspect, who was detained by the military regime, was acquitted and released late last month.

 The chairwoman of the Rakhine Women’s Network, Daw Nyo Aye, said the ULA/AA imposed the death sentence to set an example.

 “The AA felt a responsibility to make sure such incidents do not happen again. This will serve as a deterrent,” she said.