Court sentences Paletwa man to three years in prison over white-flag incitement case

By DMG 05 Apr 2022

DMG Newsroom
5 April 2022, Paletwa, Chin State

A local man from Paletwa Township, Chin State, who was detained by the Myanmar military on incitement charges late last year, was sentenced to three years in prison with hard labour by the township court on Tuesday, according to a family member.

Ko Tin Tun Aung was arrested on December 28, after telling the Arakan State-based media outlet Western News that a white flag had been seen flying on a hill where a military battalion was stationed in Paletwa Township.

Captain Tun Tun Naing from the Myanmar military filed a lawsuit against Ko Tin Tun Aung under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code, an incitement provision that has been frequently used by the regime to stifle dissent.

“He [Ko Tin Tun Aung] was sentenced to three years in prison with hard labour,” said U Min Aung, an elder brother of Ko Tin Tun Aung. “Consider whether it is fair that he was sentenced to three years in prison after a three-year trial. I think he was jailed for other reasons. I think the imprisonment of him was a shock to the people of Paletwa town.”

U Min Aung said the verdict would be appealed.

“My family did not like this decision at all. We will appeal to the district court because this sentence is not fair. He [Ko Tin Tun Aung] is no longer a civil servant. We will try to get him out of jail,” he added.

Ko Tin Tun Aung, 36, a healthcare worker at a hospital in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw, was arrested shortly after the interview he gave to Western News.

The Myanmar military has also opened a case against the chief editor and a reporter of Western News under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code over its reporting on the hoisting of the white flag.