Myanmar activist gets yet another jail term in pursuit of justice

2014-07-09

Activist Htin Kyaw stages a solo protest in central Yangon's North Okkalapa township on May 22, 2013. RFA

Myanmar activist Htin Kyaw, who has been sentenced to jail at least six times under President Thein Sein's rule, was ordered by a court Wednesday to serve an additional three months in prison on a charge that his attempt to meet with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi over a land rights case constituted an illegal protest.

Htin Kyaw, the director of the political activist group Movement for Democracy Current Force (MDCF), was sentenced under Section 18 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law by the Bahan Township Court in central Yangon region, he told RFA's Myanmar Service following the ruling.

Under the provision, demonstrators can be jailed for protesting without government permits.

He was found guilty on a charge of holding an unauthorized demonstration in April outside of Aung San Suu Kyi's Yangon home.

Htin Kyaw disputed the charge, contending that he and others had only gone to the opposition leader's home to seek her help in resolving the plight of Yangon's Myangone township residents following their eviction.

"People from 293 households in No. 6 Block of Myangone township were suffering from lack of food and shelter – that's why we went to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's home and asked for help from her as she is a chairwoman of the [Parliamentary] Committee for Rule of Law and Peace and Stability," he said.

"Because of this, I was sentenced today under Section 18. We were there to ask for help, not to protest," he said.

"No matter what is written in current laws, the judicial system was influenced by the government's decision today and we have to accept whatever they did to us."

Wednesday's sentence marks the third for Htin Kyaw in just over a month and at least the sixth under Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government, which took power from the former military junta in 2011 and pledged to start Myanmar on a path to democratic reform.

The activist was sentenced to three months in jail by the Kyauktada Township Court on June 4 for protesting against the forced eviction of residents of Thameekalay village in Hlegu township by local authorities, also under Section 18.

An amendment to this law, which removes the requirement for prior permission to protest peacefully, has been passed by Myanmar's parliament and is awaiting Thein Sein's signature.

Htin Kyaw has also been charged in 11 Yangon townships under Section 505(B) of the Penal Code – which makes it a crime to circulate information that could encourage a citizen "to commit an offense against the state or against public tranquility" – for handing out brochures expressing distrust of the government.

He was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison under the charge by the South Okkalapa Township Court on June 23.

Two other members of the MDCF, Tin Maung Kyi and Zaw Win, were sentenced to six months in jail under Section 505(B) Wednesday at Yangon's Tamwe Township Court for their role in local protests. They are also facing trials in connection with protests in Bahan and Mingala Taungnyunt townships.

Longtime activist

Htin Kyaw's most recent jailing also marks his fourth prison term under Thein Sein's administration and fifth in seven years.

Imprisoned under Myanmar' former military junta regime in 2007, the longtime activist resumed campaigning after his release under a political prisoner amnesty in January 2012, staging solo protests and leading land grab victims in demonstrations.

Last May, he was jailed for a week in Yangon's notorious Insein Prison after refusing to post bail for his arrest on defamation charges linked to a protest he organized against an alleged forced eviction.

In August, after organizing another protest, he was again thrown into Insein Prison, where he staged a hunger strike against his detention, but was released on Dec. 11 as part of a presidential amnesty.

However, he was rearrested the same day as his release on charges of sedition and held until Thein Sein granted an additional pardon to political prisoners on Dec. 31.

Arbitrary detention

Earlier this year, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions released a report on Htin Kyaw's detention in August, ruling that the activist had exercised his "right to freedom of opinion and expression and to freedom of association" by engaging in a peaceful protest against an eviction.

The ruling – made during the course of his detention – said Htin Kyaw had been wrongfully detained, called for his immediate release, and urged the government of Myanmar to make "reparations" to the activist.

Htin Kyaw continues to face charges in several Yangon townships for protests which often included walking through an area and announcing his opposition to Section 18 with a megaphone or standing outside court buildings holding placards denouncing the law.

Rights groups say Section 18 has been widely used to silence activists, arguing it is incompatible with reforms Myanmar has introduced in recent years as the country emerges from decades under military rule.

Section 18 carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine for violating rules outlined elsewhere in the law, passed in 2011 under Thein Sein's government.

Reported by Kyaw Zaw Win for RFA's Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

Link to original story on RFA website