Regime charges two Rathedaung Twsp boat owners under Unlawful Associations Act

By DMG 04 Nov 2022

DMG Newsroom
4 November 2022, Rathedaung

Two boat owners from Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township have been charged under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act for allegedly paying taxes to the Arakan Army (AA).

The accused have been identified as U Maung Than Win and U Thein Tun from Angumaw Village, Rathedaung Township. U Thein Tun was arrested while travelling to Sittwe Township Court to face trial, while the other has thus far evaded arrest.

The military regime seized nine boats moored near Min Chaung Bridge in Sittwe, and also detained nine people including some of the owners and helmsmen of those vessels on October 12. Nine boat owners arrested near the Min Chaung Bridge in Sittwe were charged under the Inland Water Transport Vessels Law and were subsequently released on bail.

With the exception of U Maung Than Win, eight boat owners were summoned to the Sittwe Township Court on November 2 for an extension of remand. Of the eight boat owners, U Thein Tun was arrested by the police and U Maung Than Win has been sued under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act, said a boat owner who did not want to be named.

“We were told by people accompanying us that two police officers put U Thein Tun, a boat owner from Angumaw Village, on a three-wheeled motorcycle taxi by his neck and arrested him,” the boat owner added.

He said they were arrested along with the boats and questioned at No. 1 Police Station in Sittwe as to whether they had a boat license and the list of goods they were carrying.

“We were interrogated by members of the Military Intelligence and police. We were questioned as to whether we had contact with the regime-designated terrorist organisations or paid taxes to the Arakan Army. U Thein Tun confessed that he had paid K50,000 to the AA as a tax. I think this is the reason why the two men were charged under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act,” he continued.

Of the nine boats seized by the military, two are from Sittwe, one is from Pauktaw and six are from Rathedaung Township. The boats were confiscated while they were planning to go to various places after purchasing goods from Sittwe.

DMG contacted regime spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun and Arakan State Minister for Security and Border Affairs Colonel Kyaw Thura regarding the matter, but they could not be reached.