Four Arakanese students’ educations at stake amid prolonged detention without trial resolution

By DMG 02 Sep 2021

DMG Newsroom
2 September 2021, Sittwe 

Family members and officials from the Arakan Students’ Union say that as the case of four Arakanese students who have been on trial for nearly a year continues to be delayed, their educations are unfairly at stake.  

The four students charged under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code and Section 29 of the Natural Disaster Management Law have been facing trial from prison for about a year, since their arrest in October of last year. 

“There is only one judicial action left in the case against the four Arakanese students. However, the court hearings were postponed due to various reasons. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the students’ court hearings were delayed. We see this as a deliberate move,” said Ko Kyaw Nyein Tun, a liaison officer for the Arakan Students’ Union. 

He added that the prolonging of the four Arakanese students’ case has lasted nearly a year, impeding their educational progress. 

“Because the four Arakanese are university students, there are grievances about their education. Their friends have graduated and are now in the workplace. The four Arakanese students detained by the government are in prison, which is detrimental to their education,” he told DMG. 

The four defendants — Ko Kyaw Naing Htay, Ko Oo Than Naing and Ko Mrat Soe Win from the Arakan Students’ Union, and Ko Kaung Tun from the Arakan Students’ Union (Universities – Yangon) — were arrested by police during the protest in Sittwe on October 19, 2020. 

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

Ko Kyaw Min Htay, the elder brother of Ko Kyaw Naing Htay, said it was questionable that the accused students had been detained for so long without a resolution to their case. 

“The case of these students is not a case of theft or rape. It is an act of standing up for the people and demanding that the government stand up for what human beings are suffering,” Ko Kyaw Min Htay said. “They are innocent because it was the right thing to do. I want the case to be heard as soon as possible when the courts reopen due to the reduction in Covid-19 infections.” 

During a court hearing on July 16, the four defendants were involved in an altercation with police outside the Sittwe Township Courthouse, demanding that the judge in their case render a swift verdict. 

Lawyers have pointed out that the suspension of legal proceedings due to the Covid-19 pandemic was cause for concern in cases of defendants facing trial from prison without the option of bail.