Khin Tharaphy Oo — Thirteen people accused of having illegal ties to the Arakan Army and held in detention for most of last year were cleared of those charges and released by the Sittwe District Court on January 24.

“Shin Let [Wa] villagers have been discharged because they were found not guilty,” said U Tun Hla, a lawyer for the accused.

Twenty-one residents of Shin Let Wa village in Chin State’s Paletwa Township were arrested last February along with the owners of a house they were staying at in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State. Ten of them were subsequently released and the 13 others, including the couple who own the home, were charged under the Unlawful Associations Act.

They were accused of having links to the Arakan Army and of providing food to the ethnic armed group.

Through the end of November, more than 500 people in Arakan State were detained over alleged ties to the Arakan Army, the Thazin Legal Aid organization said late last year.