Four jailed Arakanese students’ appeal goes to Arakan State High Court

By DMG 05 Oct 2021

DMG Newsroom
5 October 2021, Sittwe

The case of four Arakanese students who were recently sentenced to two years and six months in prison was appealed to the Arakan State High Court on October 4, according to a lawyer representing the defendants.

The four students were sentenced under two sections in connection with a protest march in Sittwe on October 10, 2020, and the case against them was appealed to the Sittwe District Court on September 23.

The appeal was rejected by the Sittwe District Court and the case was appealed to the Arakan State High Court, according to U Kyaw Nyunt Maung, the lawyer representing the defendants in the case.

“The case of the four Arakanese students was appealed to the Arakan State High Court. The Arakan State High Court will hear the case and decide whether to accept it or not,” the lawyer told DMG.

The students joined an anti-war demonstration organised by the Arakan Students’ Union on October 19, 2020, with protesters’ slogans including “No Fascist Army”, “No Colonial Government”, “No Bloody Government”, and “Burmese Government Get Out”.

The four students — Ko Kyaw Naing Htay, Ko Than Naing, Ko Mrat Soe Win and Ko Kaung Tun — were sentenced on September 16 by the Sittwe Township Court under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code and the Natural Disaster Management Law.

The exact date of the court hearing on the four Arakanese students’ appeal to the Arakan State High Court is not yet known.