Ni Min Htun

Narinjara News,  17 May 2020

Six men from Kyauk Tanwere released Friday afternoon, following a court hearing in Sittwe afterspending over a year in detention.  They had charges under theCounter-Terrorism Law Sections 52 (a)and 50 (i) which have now been dropped.

The freed men, all fromKyauk Tan village, Rathetaung Township. include Maung Htun Min Naing (20),Maung Nyi Nyi Htwe (22), Maung Maung Naing (28), Maung Oo Myint Htun (27),Maung Soe Kyaw (27) and Maung Nyein Shwe (20).

Sittwe District AttorneyU Soe Hlaing who represented the men in court, explained that they are nolonger liable to legal action, their charges have been dropped and they havebeen released.

In the first week of May2019 the men had been arrested by the Tatmadaw at Kyauk Tan village school.According to one of the released Ko Maung Nyein Shwe the men were interrogated,beaten and faced difficulties in meeting basic needs during their time indetention.

“They arrested andinterrogated us. They asked us if we had connections to the AA.  Theyblindfolded me and tied my hands behind my back and beat us. During our time inprison it was difficult to survive,” he said.

Daw Ye Ye Soe explainedthat the family faced all kinds of difficulties and financial problemsfollowing the arrest of her son, Maung Nyein Shwe.

“When he was arrestedthere were so many problems. It was difficult to cover the travel expenses tocome to Sittwe to visit him.  Just covering the basic needs wasdifficult.  When we came to visit him in prison we couldn’t supporthim the way we would have wanted too.  He has been locked up now fora long time and hasn’t been able to work, so money is a problem.  There’sno such as thing as an innocent civilian when it comes to anything thatconcerns the AA.  I don’t want anyone else to suffer like they have” she said.

Amongst the group whowere arrested in Kyauk Tan, two were under the age of 18.  They havebeen released on bail but continue to face charges.

On May 2, eight peoplewere shot dead and a further seven wounded after Tatmadaw troops opened fire ona group of people in Kyauk Tan School. The incident happened while the Tatmadawwas holding and interrogating over 200 villagers at the school.