The Arakan State High Court on November 9 accepted the appeal of four Arakanese students who were sentenced to two years and six months in prison for an anti-war protest in 2020, according to a lawyer representing the defendants.

The final appeal in the case will be presented to the court at the next hearing, said U Hla Aung Thein, the lawyer.

“Today’s court hearing is the first step in accepting the appeal. Whether or not the sentence will be commuted or reduced is to be heard at the next court hearing,” U Hla Aung Thein explained.

The exact date of the hearing is not yet known, he added.

The case of the four jailed Arakanese students was appealed to the Arakan State High Court on October 4 of this year.

The four students were sentenced to two years and six months in prison by the Sittwe Township Court in connection with a protest march in the Arakan State capital on October 10, 2020.

The Sittwe District Court dismissed the appeal of the students on September 23 and the case was subsequently appealed to the Arakan State High Court.

The students joined an anti-war demonstration organised by the Arakan Students’ Union on October 10, 2020, with protesters’ slogans including “No Fascist Army”, “No Colonial Government”, “No Bloody Government”, and “Burmese Government Get Out”.

The four students — Ko Kyaw Naing Htay, Ko Than Naing, Ko Mrat Soe Win and Ko Kaung Tun — were sentenced on September 16, getting two years in prison under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code and six months under the Natural Disaster Management Law.

Section 505(b) imposes a sentence of up to two years in prison for anyone who “makes, publishes, or circulates any statement, rumor, or report with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public, whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquility.”