Eight suspects who have been arrested in connection with Mrauk U riot attended their tenth court hearing on May 24 and two persecution witnesses were questioned during the court hearing.
“Police Captain Thein Naing Aye, chief of Mrauk U Township Police Station, and U Thant Sin, a staff from the district general administration, were questioned in the court today,” said Daw Aye Nu Sein, the suspects’ lawyer.
The eight suspects, who have been injured during the riot, have been charged with destruction of public property.
“Since they are being hospitalized for their injuries, they are like fish caught in a net. The case states that the mob’s number was between 4,000 and 5,000. The unlucky people who died were not charged. Only the injured have been charged, but there are also defendants on the run,” said advocate Daw Aye Nu Sein,
Although the suspects were taken to the court hearings nine times, the plaintiff was absent in one of the hearings.
“It’s true that they have been taken to court for nine times, but only one court hearing has been held to question the plaintiff. During that time, the plaintiff took a leave because he was unable to come so he was absent once,” she told the reporters after the 10th court hearing at the Sittwe Township Court.
She said the relatives of the detained suspects made a mistake in telling the media that no hearings were held in all nine court hearings due to the absence of the plaintiff.
Some of the suspects have been taken to court in Mrauk U and some of them were not taken to the court due to the condition of their injuries and security reasons.
“Two of the detained suspects are age 16 and 17 so the headmasters of their schools have been questioned to find out their exact ages in order to decide whether they should be charged at a juvenile court or normal court. That’s why two court hearings have been held [to question them],” Daw Aye Nu Sein explained.
The defendants may receive up to seven years in prison if there is strong evidence so bail cannot be easily granted to them.
“It’s not easy to get bail as they have been charged with Section 61 of the Public Property Protection Act, but three of the gunshot-wounded suspects are still using clutches. It’s very difficult for them to move around the kids told us that they need to be treated with specialists. We are doing our best to find necessary evidences to submit to the court in order to provide medical treatment via the prison doctor or other required medical treatment,” said higher grade pleader U Tun Aye Kyaw, another lawyer of the suspects.
The next court hearing has been scheduled for June 5.
