Around 200 farmers protested against the ruling of the township judge and the action of the Land Records Deputy Staff Officer over a land dispute issue in Thandwe, Rakhine State on April 2.
Speaking to Narinjara News, the protest leader U Kyaw Hla said: “We are protesting against the unfair ruling of the judge because he gave a two-month sentence to U Kyaw Soe without making any measurements on the disputed land.”
He explained that the farmers were also protesting against U Tin Aye, deputy staff officer from Thandwe Township Land Records Department, for taking a long leave without measuring the land even though he was assigned by the district judge to do the measurement.
“The reason why I’m protesting is to reveal the truth on this issue because the judge has made a wrong ruling. I want the country and the world to know about this,” U Kyaw Hla said.
The protesters gathered at Andaw Bridge between noon and 1 pm and made their demands while they were marching to Myoma Police Station, the Township Land Records Department, the District Court, and the Township Court.
“Daw Marlar Tin applied for these lands as a vacant and virgin land in 2014. Many lands of the farmers from this area including the one owned by U Kyaw Soe were included in the application. There is a dispute on this issue,” said U Ko Lay, chair of the Rakhine Farmer Union’s Thandwe District Committee.
“We have been working on this Nat Maw Taung since the days of our forefathers. Nga Phyu from Sin Taw Kauk petrol station and Daw Marlar Tin took this Nat Maw Taung under their names and robbed it from us,” said Ma Nyo Lay, sister of U Kyaw Soe, who has been convicted.
“It’s not my court’s job to measure the land. We made the judgment on this case under trespassing charges. He [U Kyaw Soe] has already been charged once in 2014. The trespasser and his accomplices were fined. It happened again in 2014 so he was sentenced to prison for two months under trespassing charges,” Thandwe Township Judge U Kyaw Zan Win said when he was contacted by Narinjara News.
“My long leave isn’t related to this case. I submitted my leave application to my superiors since a month ago. U Kyaw Soe’s imprisonment isn’t related to my leave. Even if I were to do the field inspection, I can’t decide on it alone due to the [land dispute] case. I can only do it after submitting to the superiors on various levels. I have already submitted to the superiors to inspect this land. The permission hasn’t been granted yet. I’m not related to this case at all,” said U Tin Aye, deputy staff officer of Thandwe Township Land Records Department, who has been protested by the farmers.
Among 27 acres of land in Nat Maw Taung in Thandwe Township, Daw Marlar Tin owns 8.80 acres of land, U Than Naing (also known as) Na Phyu owns 2.50 acres of land, and U Kyaw Soe owns 3.36 acres of land. While they are disputing the land ownership, the court sentenced U Kyaw Soe to prison after he and his family were accused of trespassing on the land.
Local residents were unsatisfied with the ruling and believe it was unfair so they held the protest.
During the protest, the protesters shouted slogans to urge the government to take action against the cronies for using the judiciary mechanism in launching lawsuits and grabbing the lands of the local residents and sending them to prison and appoint a commission to measure the land and take effective action against U Tin Aye for taking a long leave.
The protesters also called for the emergence of a fair judiciary and revelation of the truth on the unfair conviction of farmer U Kyaw Soe.
