“They took remand at Mrauk-U Court ( on September 25) under this Section 16 of the Union Flag Law. The court hearing has been scheduled for October 9,” the defendant lawyer U Tun Aung Kyaw, who is also secretary of the Arakan National Party (ANP), said to Narinjara News.

According to him, the charges were filed by Police Captain Thein Naing Aye, who also filed charges against the youths under Section 6 (1) of the Public Property Protection Act.

Kyaw Win Naing, Kyaw Min Soe, U Than Zaw, Aung Kyaw Myint, Shwe Maung, Aung Htay, Tun Kyaw Sein, and Kyaw Kyaw Naing spent eight months in custody before their release and re-arrest.

“The eight youths were initially charged under Section 6 (1) of the Public Property Protection Act. When the plaintiff witnesses could not give a concrete testimony about who violated the law, they changed the charge to Section 145 of the Penal Code for joining an unlawful assembly. These kids were desperate for their freedom. They had been living in prison for over eight months. Since they had a chance of getting sentenced and being released if they admitted to this charge, they said they were guilty when they were asked whether or not they were guilty under Section 145 of the Penal Code. They didn’t have prior arrest records and they have received serious injuries so they need medical treatment. One of them is a student. Another person has been seriously injured and the bullet still hasn’t been removed from his body yet so the court showed leniency by giving them an eight-month sentence. Since they have already been detained for over eight months, they were released after serving their sentence,” he said.

“On the issue of charging them again under the Union Flag Law after their release and getting remand for them, we, the ANP, believe it does not meet the law or social [standard]. Because, these kids had to face the trial for eight months. They spent eight months in custody. One could charge them with anything while they were in custody, whether it’s four charges, forty charges, or 100 charges. They had the right to charge them while they were facing the trial and were kept in custody. We have to face the trial,” he continued.

“They are deliberately giving trouble to these kids and it doesn’t meet the law to make an additional charge against them after their release even though they didn’t do anything during that time. It does not meet the law to keep filing charges for the same case over and over again. The kids have already suffered a lot and their families had to travel from Mrauk-U to Sittwe to attend the court hearings. They had faced many hardships. In terms of legal and social standards, we believe they are deliberately giving trouble to these kids by repeatedly charging them,” he added.