Sittwe University authorities have admonished a leader of the university’s student union for speaking out against human rights violations in 2020, which landed him in prison for more than a year.

The plaintiff and all prosecution witnesses in the case against Ko Han Myo Thurein, who has been charged with incitement under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code, were examined during a court hearing on Monday, according to a lawyer involved.

One man was killed and another was seriously injured when unexploded ordnance (UXO) went off in Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township on Sunday, according to local residents.

Myanmar junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun has touted evictions under military rule as a benefit of the regime not being accountable to a voting public. 

The All Arakan Students’ and Youths’ Congress (AASYC) launched a campaign for justice at View Point Beach in Sittwe on Thursday to mark Right to Truth Day. 

More than 400 people in Sittwe who were evicted earlier this month by Myanmar’s military regime for allegedly squatting on government-owned lands are being moved to a village in Ponnagyun Township, Arakan State, with the help of a local charitable organisation. 

A final appeal in the case of Ko Tin Tun Aung from Paletwa Township, Chin State, who was detained by the Myanmar military late last year and faces incitement charges, will be heard at his next court hearing on April 1, according to a lawyer involved.

The Union Election Commission (UEC) appointed by Myanmar’s military regime has warned that it will take legal action against political parties that have yet to undergo its scrutiny ahead of a general election slated for 2023. 

Two Thandwe men facing charges under Section 52(a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law told a court on Wednesday that they had nothing to do with anti-regime fighters arrested last year in Ayeyawady Region, according to their lawyer. 

Some wards in the Arakan State capital Sittwe have reported medical waste being dumped at their garbage sites, according to the state’s resources minister, U Than Tun. 

The junta-appointed Arakan State election body has been checking voter lists against the population on the ground in townships across the state as Myanmar’s military regime plans to hold a redo general election next year.

Family members of a hotel staffer who was murdered in Arakan State’s Manaung Township last month have filed complaints with the crime department and police headquarters in Naypyidaw, expressing dissatisfaction with the ongoing investigation.

Ko Tin Tun Aung, a local man from Paletwa Township, Chin State, who was detained by the Myanmar military and faces incitement charges, appeared before the township court on March 23, according to family members. 

A man from Pauk Inn village in Arakan State’s Taungup Township who was arrested earlier this month by the Myanmar military has been charged under two sections of the Gambling Law, according to local police.

Residents in six townships along the Arakan State coast were being evacuated Tuesday ahead of the arrival of a storm system bringing strong winds and heavy rain, according to the Arakan State military council.

A deep depression in the southeastern Bay of Bengal made landfall in Ayeyarwady Region on Tuesday morning, destroying homes and damaging pagodas in some townships, according to locals.

There is an urgent need for shelter due to strong winds and heavy rains near the Thaung Yin River on the Thai-Myanmar border, where internally displaced people (IDPs) are taking refuge, according to the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG).

The Arakan State Administration Council will resume train service along the Pyidawtha-Yaychanpyin rail route on March 24, an official from Myanmar Railways’ Sittwe branch told DMG on condition of anonymity.

A growing chorus of voices in Arakan State say existing curfew orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure should be repealed in some townships as the state is currently stable.