Presidential spokesperson U Ye Htut has defended a law used to arrest of scores of political activists, saying it was needed to ensure that protests did cause unnecessary disruption in public places.
Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law, which stipulates that prior police permission is needed to hold a demonstration, should be retained, U Ye Htut told Mizzima in a telephone interview on January 6.
The article was needed to ensure that roads and access to schools and hospitals were not blocked, said U Ye Htut, who is also the Deputy Minister for Information.
“It is not Article 18 that is a problem, but how it is applied,” he said.
U Ye Htut said local authorities could not deny every request for permission to hold a demonstration but they had the right to set restrictions.
He accused some activists of deliberately staging demonstrations so that they would be arrested under Article 18
“If we refrain from going to extremes, Article 18 will not be a problem,” he said.
U Ye Htut’s comments came after a demonstration attended by about 2,000 people in central Yangon on January 5 demanded the repeal of Article 18, which was enacted by parliament in December 2011, and Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code, which relates to offences regarded by the authorities as being contrary to the maintenance of public tranquility.
Thura U Aung Ko, a USDP representative for Kanpelet constituency in Chin State, submitted a proposal to the Pyithu Hluttaw in November for amending Article 18 on the grounds that it is incompatible with citizens rights prescribed in the constitution.
The proposal was opposed by Brigadier-General Kyaw Kyaw Tun, the Deputy Minister for Home Affairs.
Anyone breaching Article 18 is liable to imprisonment for up to a year and a fine of not more than 30,000 kyats.
Critics of the law say it contravenes provisions of Section 354 of the constitution, which grants citizens the right to demonstrate without seeking prior permission.
