Junta sentences jailed student activist to death

By Admin 29 Apr 2023

DMG Newsroom
29 April 2023, Sittwe

A junta court handed down the death sentence to Ko Kaung Sett Paing, a jailed member of Yangon’s North Okkalapa students’ union, on April 25, according to a statement released by the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU).

A court inside Insein Prison sentenced Ko Kaung Sett Paing, 20, to life imprisonment under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code and Section (j) of the Counter-Terrorism Law on March 22.

The ABFSU said in a statement on April 28 that the military junta has imposed an additional death sentence on Ko Kaung Sett Paing under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code and Section (j) of the Counter-Terrorism Law.

“He was not allowed to hire a lawyer. I think the regime handed down the death sentence using various articles.  As he is a student activist, the regime seems to be oppressing the students’ unions,” said an official from the ABFSU.

The Arakan Students’ Union condemned the regime’s penchant for handing down lengthy sentences for students protesting peacefully for democracy.

“After the military coup, we see more and more arrests of students. As for us, it is not a civilian government’s trial, so we strongly object to it,” said Ko Oo Than Naing, an information officer for the Arakan Students’ Union.

Myanmar’s military regime has sentenced more than 30 members of the ABFSU to significant prison time, including at least two life sentences, during the two-plus years since the coup in February 2021.

The regime has also sentenced 153 civilians to death during that time, of whom 42 people were sentenced to death in absentia, according to an April 28 press release from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).