Regime charges prominent Arakan social activist with incitement

By DMG 27 Sep 2022

DMG Newsroom
27 September 2022, Sittwe

Myanmar’s military regime has opened an incitement case against well-known social activist Ko Ann Thar Gyi aka U Than Shwe under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code, according to a Facebook report from Rakhine Daily, a junta-controlled media operation in Arakan State.

The complaint was filed with the Mrauk-U Township police station on September 25, and Ko Ann Thar Gyi has been in hiding, reported Rakhine Daily.

Ko Ann Thar Gyi said he did not know details related to the charge, but described as routine the regime’s penchant for prosecuting people on various trumped-up charges to stifle dissent and opposition.

“Section 505(a) has been misused by successive governments so that it has become a routine. Not just Section 505(a); they would also use other provisions to charge civilians. It is their routine. So, I don’t have much to say about it,” said Ko Ann Thar Gyi.

Ko Ann Thar Gyi was travelling to Mrauk-U as part of a trip to provide relief supplies for internally displaced people (IDPs) when junta troops fired shots at his vehicle at a security checkpoint at the entrance to Mrauk-U on September 16. He managed to escape.

Rakhine Daily in its report claimed that the military had attempted to search the vehicle of Ko Ann Thar Gyi in response to a tipoff that narcotics were being carried in the vehicle, but that the vehicle drove off.

Ko Ann Thar Gyi dismissed the junta’s accusation that he engaged in the drug trade and other illegal activities under the pretext of philanthropic works.

“I don’t even drink, and I am totally against drug abuse and trafficking. I have never engaged in the drug trade and I never will,” he said.

DMG has been unable to contact Mrauk-U Township police officials to ask about the incitement charge against Ko Ann Thar Gyi.

DMG was also unable to obtain comment from junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun and Arakan State Security and Border Affairs Minister Colonel Kyaw Thura.