The younger brother of the Arakan Army (AA) chief, Major-General Twan Mrat Naing, and seven others who were arrested in 2019 will be brought to trial via video conferencing on May 4, according to defence lawyers.
The AA chief’s brother Ko Aung Mrat Kyaw and his colleagues were arrested by Singapore police on July 10, 2019, over allegations that they were financially backing the AA.
Most of the detainees belong to the Arakanese Association-Singapore (AAS), a social welfare organisation that contributes relief aid from Singapore to Arakanese people displaced by fighting in Arakan State.
They were subsequently deported to Myanmar, and authorities arrested them on arrival at Yangon International Airport and charged them under the Counter-Terrorism Law.
They have been held in Yangon’s Insein Prison, and a court will hear their case on May 4, said defence lawyer U Aung Kyaw Sein.
“The court, however, has not heard the case of the AA chief’s sister since August of last year. Even if the hearing is complete, if the accused are not brought to the court, a verdict can’t be delivered,” said U Aung Kyaw Sein.
“As the State Administration Council has rescinded the AA’s terrorist status, we are waiting to see if there will be a change, and if regional-level administrative councils will drop the charges. And courts are also waiting.”
Police also detained the AA chief’s sister Ma Moe Hnin Phyu and her husband Ko Kyaw Naing at Yangon International Airport as Ko Kyaw Naing returned from Thailand’s Chiang Mai on October 19, 2019.
Police opened a case against the couple under Section 5(a), (b) and (c) of the Counter-Terrorism Law. The pair are also being detained in Insein Prison.
Police have said the charges are linked to explosive materials seized by police in Mandalay a month earlier. Ko Kyaw Naing allegedly funded a suspect in September’s seizure of explosive materials in Myanmar’s second largest city.
The court heard both sides in their case and the verdict is pending, said U Aung Kyaw Sein.
“We don’t know when the verdict will be delivered. Their dossier is at Yangon Region high court. We don’t know yet how the court will decide. The AA has been removed from the list of terrorist organisations, and we hope there can be some changes if the government takes a softer approach,” the lawyer added.
On Monday, four men including the former chairman of Taungup’s Development Affairs Committee and the vice chair of the local Arakan National Party, who had been charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law, were acquitted after 11 months of detention and trial.
A total of 362 people were arrested and charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law on suspicion of having ties to the AA over two years of fighting between Myanmar’s military and the Arakanese ethnic armed group, according to Thazin Legal Institute. Seventy-eight of them have so far been released due to lack of evidence.
The State Administration Council (SAC), as Myanmar’s junta describes itself, rescinded a declaration of the Arakan Army as a terrorist group on March 11. The families of detainees charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law over alleged AA ties have expressed hope for the release of the accused following the de-designation, though an official in Arakan State sought to tamp down those expectations earlier this month.
Photo: Tun Khaing (Narinjara)
