Case finally underway for Kyaukphyu Twsp residents charged for alleged AA ties 

By Admin 25 Jul 2023

DMG Newsroom
25 July 2023, Kyaukphyu

The case of two Kyaukphyu Township residents detained by the Myanmar military and charged under the Unlawful Associations Act was called to order on Monday, about eight months after the pair were detained, according to defence lawyers.

The prosecution side has been absent from the trial repeatedly, and prosecution witnesses were heard for the first time at the Kyaukphyu Township Court on Monday.

The next hearing has been scheduled for August 7. The two defendants, U Zaw Lin, 35, and U Zaw Myo Tun, 34, from Kalarbar Village in Kyaukphyu Township, were arrested in November 2022 on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA).

A lieutenant from a Kyaukphyu-based battalion filed a complaint against the two for alleged violation of Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act.

“It is not easy for us to attend the trial because we live far from the town. It not only takes time but also money. The court hearing has only started and we don’t know how long it will take,” said Daw Than Than, the wife of U Zaw Lin.

A total of 23 people were charged in Kyaukphyu Township under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act and/or Section 505(a) of the Penal Code for their alleged ties with the AA during the latest period of fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA), which took place from approximately August to late November of last year.

Among those charged were government employees, fishermen and manual labourers, according to U Myat Tun, director of the Rakhine Human Rights Defenders and Promoters Association.

The association asked the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission to look into those cases some five months ago, but  there has been no response yet, he said.

“I am sad that the commission has not yet made any response,” U Myat Tun told DMG.

In many cases in which civilians in Arakan State were charged for allegedly having ties to the AA, either the prosecution has failed to appear at court, or courts have postponed rulings, delaying trials in ways that have prompted criticism from human rights and civil liberties advocates.