Leaders of the Christian Kachin-based anti-narcotic group Pat Ja San (PJS) said on 6 March that they were unaware that the group is being sued by U Zakhung Tin Ying’s family.
On 7 March a Radio Free Asia (RFA) report said that the family had bought charges, including charges of defamation and mischief, against Pat Ja San members. They are accused of protesting in front the house of U Zakhung Ting, the leader of the New Democracy Army – Kachin (NDA-K) Border Guard Force and a member of the Kachin State Hluttaw (parliament), on the night of 25 February.
Waingmaw Township’s PJS Committee leader Sayar Phaung La said that he was unaware of the cases bought by U Zakhung Tin Ying’s family in Myitkyina and denied that PJS had taken part in the protests outside the house.
He said: “We haven’t been informed about this. [They] haven’t come to tell us about this. One thing though, those that threw rocks at U Zakhung Tin Ying’s house were not [part of] the Pat Ja San group. They were [members of] the public. We didn’t lead the protest. Rather than leading the protest, we were facing difficulties in getting our members to hospital.”
After being prevented from entering the Kampaiti area for a week, a PJS group left the Warshaung Gate in Waingmaw on 23 February with the police and fire brigade providing security. Two days later, on 25 February, a group made up of the Burmese Government’s Border Guard Force (BGF) and People’s Militia troops accompanied by opium farmers attacked the group with mines and guns.
On 2 March the Kachin State Police Force interviewed some PSJ leaders about the 25 February attack.
On the evening of 25 and morning of 26 February over 2,000 Mytkyina residents protested in Mytkyina against the attack on the PJS group.
Translated by Thida Linn
Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI
