Two men detained at Maungdaw security checkpoint charged under Unlawful Associations Act

By DMG 09 Dec 2022

DMG Newsroom
9 December 2022, Maungdaw 

Two men who were detained by junta soldiers early last month at the military’s Kyee Kan Pyin security checkpoint in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, have been charged under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act, according to family members of the accused. 

Maung Hsan Htay, 24, a first-year correspondent student from Khamaungseik Village, and Ko Khin Zaw, a 22-year-old motorcycle taxi driver from Mingalarnyunt Village, went missing after they were questioned by soldiers and members of the Border Guard Force (BGF) at Kyee Kan Pyin checkpoint while travelling to Khamaungseik Village on November 1. 

“They were held on remand for the first time at the Maungdaw Township Court on November 15, and are currently detained at the Myothugyi Border Guard Force camp,” said Ma Nu Than Yin, an elder sister of Ko Khin Zaw. “The pair appeared before the court on November 28 and the next hearing has been scheduled for December 5. They were taken to Buthidaung Prison after the December 5 hearing.” 

She added that family members are upset that the two have been charged under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act. 

“I feel sorry for them. They are innocent and I don’t want them to be imprisoned without any guilt,” she told DMG. “We can’t do anything but pray for them to be released. I had a conversation with my younger brother during the December 5 hearing. They were reportedly transferred to the Myothugyi Border Guard Force camp after they were held at Kyee Kan Pyin security checkpoint for four days. They were questioned in BGF police custody for one month.” 

Daw Ma Nu Sein, Maung Hsan Htay’s mother, told DMG she is worried about her son. 

“Despite many difficulties, we have sent him to university. His mobile phone was switched off when I phoned him. Now he has been sued under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act. I don’t know what happened to him. He has no ties to unlawful associations. I want him released as soon as possible,” she said. 

DMG was unable to obtain comment from Arakan State Minister for Security and Border Affairs Colonel Kyaw Thura regarding the charges brought against the two Maungdaw men. 

In an eerily similar tale, a university student and a motorcycle taxi driver who were detained on November 1 at the Kyeinchaung security checkpoint in Maungdaw were recently charged under Sections (1) and (2) of the Unlawful Associations Act. 

At least 46 people were arrested on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army and charged under the Unlawful Associations Act and/or incitement under Sections 505(a) and (b) of the Penal Code during some four months of heightened military tensions and active conflict between the military and AA in Arakan State, according to a DMG tally. 

The military and AA agreed to an informal ceasefire on November 26, following months of renewed hostilities that began in earnest in August.