The military regime has sentenced Dr M Kawn La, the leader of the Kachin National Congress (KNC) party, to two years imprisonment for incitement.

“Our party has experienced a tremendous loss” as have the Kachin people, Ze Zawng, general secretary of the KNC, told NMG. “We want him to be released from prison as soon as possible.”

On Wednesday, 23 March, the Zabuthiri Township Courthouse in Naypyitaw convicted Dr M Kawn La under Article 505 (a) of Burma's Penal Code after he attended five court hearings during his seven-month pre-trial detention. The armed forces had arrested the KNC chair at his clinic in Naypyitaw last August.

Ze Zawng suspected that Dr M Kawn La was convicted because he'd formed the Kachin People's Political Front (KPPF) with other Kachin politicians and activists to oppose the regime after the coup. His conviction was unjustified, says Ze Zawng, and the two-year sentence he received too harsh. “In my opinion, there's no justice for him.”

Dr M. Kawn La stood as the KNC chairperson in the 2015 and 2020 general elections, but didn't win any seats in either election.

According to the advocacy group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, the military regime has convicted 868 people and arrested or charged 9,005 since staging a coup against  Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy government more than a year ago.