Six villagers given prison time for trespassing in Rakhine State land dispute

Six villagers given prison time for trespassing in Rakhine State land dispute
by -
Narinjara

Six villagers from southern Rakhine (Arakan) State have been sentenced to one month in prison for trespassing after a local official accused them of squatting on government pastureland.

The residents from Let Pan Pyar Village in Pauktaw township erected huts on what they thought was a vacant plot earlier this month. The defendants said they had been advised to build there by village elders.

“The village elders told us that the land given to us for settlement is pastureland.  We built our houses there since we didn’t have anywhere else to build. We are now being sent to prison after we were sued by the village administrator,” said U Khin Oo Maung, one of the six convicted villagers.

Land disputes and overlapping claims for land ownership continue to plague Myanmar. The National League for Democracy-led government has pledged to untangle the enormous backlog of cases and has established a parliamentary committee on confiscated land. But the committee has yet to made substantial progress, according to land activists.

Many of the outstanding land disputes involve government offices or the Tatmadaw. It’s not uncommon for the cases to involve lengthy lawsuits, but the farmers in Pauktaw were surprised when they were convicted and sentenced at their very first court hearing on May 26.

“The trial lacked fairness. The accused weren’t allowed to meet with their legal advisors at [the May 26] court hearing. They were immediately sent inside the courtroom as soon as we arrived at the court. They were asked whether they were currently living on the pastureland and whether they were guilty. The prison sentences were given after the accused admitted their guilt,” said U Win Zaw, another resident from Let Pan Pyar Village who was not involved in the case but attended the trial.  

U Aung Kyaw Nyunt, administrator of Let Pan Pyar Village, said he had to file a complaint because the houses sprung up on land needed to help support families whose children go to school.

“We have been supporting middle and high school education for over 30 years by plowing on this land. Now, there are trespassers on this land and they have started to build houses. One person started the trespassing. Then the number of trespassers grew from 20 to 40,” he said.

Before the trial started, defendant U Khin Oo Maung told Narinjara News that 48 houses were built on the property. He claimed the villagers had secured permission from the administrator before erecting the structures.

U Aung Kyaw Nyunt, however, insisted that he was not so much as notified about the building plans, and said he sued the villagers after seeking advice from the township administrator.

The six villagers were charged under section 447 of the penal code, for criminal trespassing.

Translated by Thida Linn,
Edited by Laignee Barron

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