Sittwe court leaves Minbya man charged with unlawful association in legal limbo

By DMG 29 Dec 2022

DMG Newsroom
29 December 2022, Minbya

A man from Minbya Township, Arakan State, has been detained for about one year, but a ruling in his case has yet to be delivered by the court, according to family members.

The Sittwe Township Court scheduled his next hearing for January 5, after the judge was reportedly not ready to rule in the case against U Thein Zaw at a hearing on Thursday.

“The hearing was postponed for January 5 as the judge was not ready to deliver a verdict. The case has been appealed to the Arakan State High Court. That is all I can tell you,” said a source close to the Sittwe Township Court.

U Thein Zaw, 32, is a resident of Hnget Ye Kauk Village in Minbya Township, and worked for a construction company in Sittwe prior to his arrest, according to family members.

He was detained by junta soldiers at a home in Sittwe’s Shwe Pyar Ward on January 21, family members said.

He was sued under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA), a charge that family members reject as baseless.

The family has called on the court to speed up trial proceedings.

“We have no money to go to the hearings. He has been prosecuted, so if he is guilty, he must be punished. If he is not guilty, I want him to be released as soon as possible,” said Ko Lin Lin, the younger brother of the accused.

Those found guilty under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act can be sentenced to a prison term of no less than two years and not more than three years.

At least 46 people were arrested on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army and prosecuted under the Unlawful Associations Act or incitement charges under Sections 505(a) and (b) of the Penal Code during four months of heightened military tensions and conflict between the military and AA in Arakan State, according to a DMG tally.