Activists who led a protest in front of the Chinese embassy in Yangon on December 29 against the death of local resident Khin Win during the protest at the Letpadaungtaung copper mine in Sagaing Region were refused bail after appearing in Dagon Township Court for the second time on December 20.
Nay Myo Zin, Naw Ohn Hla, Sein Htwe, Tin Htut Paing, Lay Lay, Than Swe and Mya Nu were arrested on December 30 and charged under six sections of the Penal Code of Myanmar.
Lawyers representing the activists said that the court should rethink the lawsuit as the detention of activists without the court’s arrest warrants amounts to violating human rights.
The state prosecutors objected to it as the accused would have no rights to get bail under section 505 (b).
“The authority has filed a lawsuit against them with section 505 (b) as they don’t want to grant bail. The police needs to seek arrest warrants from the court to arrest them in accordance with section 505 (b). But now they are being charged under different sections,” said lawyer Robert San Aung.
“We will start a strike in the jail if the authorities refuse to grant bail. We will rebel against the current rule of law. We strongly believe that the government is trying to use the dishonest ways to kill us in jail in place of peaceful methods,” said Nay Myo Zin.
The government usually takes a tough line on Letpadaungtaung protests staged at the Chinese embassy.
On December 10, 2013, Naw Ohn Hla, Tin Htut Paing, Aung Soe and Sithu were prosecuted for setting fire to the Chinese flag. eleven media
Four people who led a protest in front of the Chinese embassy in Yangon on December 19 against the death of local resident Khin Win during a protest at the Letpadaungtaung copper mine in Sagaing Region began a court hearing at Dagon Township Court yesterday.
Nay Myo Zin, Naw Ohn Hla, Sein Htwe and Tin Htut Paring were arrested on December 30 and charged under six sections of the Penal Code of Myanmar. However, no questioning took place in their first appearance in court and the trial is set to resume on January 20.
“There was no questioning today. We had no chance to ask questions. What I want to say is the government does nothing for change. When I was taken from my home, I was charged under Section 18 (of the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law). Later, I was detained under various sections. In the previous charges against me under Section 505(A), I was released on bail. But now I was not allowed bail,” Naw Ohn Hla told the Daily Eleven.
“We are being charged under the wrong sections. The authorities said we used abusive language but we didn’t. We only chanted a slogan “Get out Wanbao (the Myanmar Chinese company engaging in the Letpadaungtaung project.) We were also told we attempted to harm the state image. Actually, we sang the national anthem,” said Tin Htut Paing.
The government usually takes a tough line on Letpadaungtaung protests staged at the Chinese embassy.
On December 10, 2013, Naw Ohn Hla, Tin Htut Paing, Aung Soe and Sithu were prosecuted for setting fire to the Chinese flag.
Latpadaung : Activists Naw Ohn Hla, Nay Myo Zin, Sein Htay and Tin Htut Paing court hearing was postponed.
Activists Naw Ohn Hla and Nay Myo Zin -Sein Htwe were arrested by police in Rangoon on Tuesday morning for their role in a protest in front of the Chinese embassy, denouncing the killing of Latpadaung villager Khin Win last week.The activists were prosecuted under sections 294(B), 353, 147, 506, 149, and 505(B)/144 of the Penal Code. The judge sentenced them to stay in prison until January 13, 2015.
protestors were calling for an end to violence against villagers protesting land grabs at the Latpadaung copper mine site, which is jointly run by Chinese state mining firm Wanbao and Burmese military-backed Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings. CR. YANGON GLOBE
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