Arakanese author Min Di Par sentenced to 10 years in prison with hard labour

By DMG 25 Feb 2022

DMG Newsroom
25 February 2022, Mrauk-U

The young author Ko Min Di Par from Pan Maw village in Mrauk-U Township, Arakan State, who was arrested on suspicion of financing the anti-regime forces (PDFs) and charged under Myanmar’s Counter-Terrorism Law, was sentenced to 10 years in prison with hard labour on Friday, according to a lawyer.

The Mrauk-U District Court issued the ruling on February 25, said U Kyaw Soe Lin, the lawyer.

“He was sentenced to 10 years in prison with hard labour,” U Kyaw Soe Lin told DMG. “The family has also been advised to appeal the case. He was sentenced to the minimum penalty under Section (j) of the Counter-Terrorism Law. The maximum penalty under this section is life imprisonment.”

A family member told DMG that Ko Min Di Par was innocent, adding that she was not happy with the sentence and was helping to prepare an appeal.

“I will continue to appeal against my brother’s penalty. He was sentenced without committing any crime,” said Ma Nan Soe, an elder sister of Ko Min Di Par.

Ko Min Di Par, aka Ko Aung Naing Myint, was arrested on October 15 of last year and Police Captain Soe Tin from Mrauk-U police station opened a lawsuit against him under Section 50(j) of the Counter-Terrorism Law, accusing him of providing financial support to the anti-regime PDF.

Ko Aung Naing Myint has written novels under the pen name Min Di Par and last year published a compendium of stories entitled A Zone Free From Artifice.

At least 10 people in Arakan State have been arrested on suspicion of PDF affiliations and charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law in recent months.