2 Sittwe locals, including a Muslim, accused of being AA and imprisoned for 2 years

Even though there is a ceasefire between the military council and Arakan Army (AA), two local residents from Sittwe, the capital city of Rakhine State, were sentenced to two years in prison by a junta court for allegedly being associated with the AA.

Those imprisoned include U Ba Thein (57 years old) from Byai Phyu village and U Sao Lai (aka) Maung Maung Khin (50) from Thet Kay Pyin Muslim village.

The Sittwe township court, after convicting them as AA affiliates today afternoon, sentenced both of them under section 505(a) in the sedition act, said a person close to them, who personally visited the
court.

“They were arrested as they were associated with the AA. Instead of charging them under  17(1), they were charged under section 505(a) of Myanmar’s penal code,” he added.

In June 2022, both were arrested by the junta forces during the period of resurgent gunfighting in Rakhine State.

On 23 June last year, soon after the AA members detained one navy officer along with a soldier in Sittwe, the junta forces arrested 21 civilians, including these two individuals, as an act of retaliation.

Some of them were already released and many are still facing the trials with the suspicion of being AA members or supporters.

According to Rakhine human rights protection and promotion group, more than 100 Rakhine people are still under trials following their arrest as being related to the AA.