Court to decide whether to indict former Arakan State Chief Minister on July 9

By DMG 25 Jun 2021

DMG Newsroom
25 June 2021, Sittwe

The Sittwe Township Court again heard the case of former Arakan State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu, who has been charged with incitement, on June 25 via video conferencing system.

At the hearing, U Nyi Pu’s lawyer U Aung Sit Min said he submitted documents to the court regarding U Nyi Pu’s case, and that the court would decide whether to indict on July 9.

“A submission was sent to the court today. The court will decide on July 9 regarding indictment,” he said.

Plaintiff U Kyaw Thein, deputy administrator of Sittwe Township, filed a lawsuit against U Nyi Pu under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code at the Sittwe Township Court on February 22.

U Nyi Pu has been charged in connection with a statement issued by the National League for Democracy’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) on February 13.

Lawyer U Aung Sit Min, however, said at Friday’s court hearing that U Nyi Pu was not involved in the CEC statement.

“U Nyi Pu has been sued regarding the CEC statement of the NLD issued on February 13. I submitted to the court that he had already been detained on February 2. So, he has no responsibility for the CEC’s statement. I submitted that he was not involved in it, and so how could it be possible he committed this crime just for being a member of CEC?” he said.

U Nyi Pu is currently being detained in a military area and is in good health, according to his lawyer.

The charge under Section 505(b) carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison.