Ko Soe Wai, a local resident who protested for the return of confiscated farmlands along Ngapali Beach was imprisoned for three months under Section 18, protesting without permission, on 26 March according to a close friend.
The sentence was passed by Thandwe Township Court in Arakan State.
Koe Soe Wai’s made a lone protest by marching past the Hilton Hotel in the Zee-Phu-Gone Ward of Ngapali Town on 28 January whilst holding a placard saying “Give Us Back Our Land” and wearing a T-shirt with the same slogan emblazoned on it.
When he reached a guesthouse at the Ngapali intersection he was arrested and taken into custody for protesting without permission.
The reason the authorities originally gave for confiscating the land along Ngapali Beach in 2000 was so that the army could extend its local bases. They promised to return the land to its owners if it was not used for military purposes, but, after the land was confiscated people who were close to high-ranking army officers were allowed to build hotels on the land.
Ngapali Beach is the most popular and famous beach in Burma and it has been promoted as a major tourist destination.
Ko Soe Wai has previously spent nine months in jail for carrying out other lone protests.
In February of this year he also walked alone from Thandwe Township in Arakan State to Natmauk Township in Magway Region to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of General Aung San, the man who led Burma to independence. For this feat the General Aung San Foundation based in Namtauk, the general’s birthplace, awarded Ko Soe Wai an honorary certificate.
Translated by Aung Myat Soe English version written by Mark Inkey for BNI
