A student attending Mawlamyine University was arrested by the junta for allegedly writing and distributing political incitement material on a social networking site.
The incident was reported by local residents to IMNA. On October 22nd, a male and a female student from Mawlamyine University were arrested by the junta while riding a motorcycle from Paung Township to Mawlamyine.
“The way it happened that day was that the boy and the girl were university students heading to Mawlamyine Township. When the police stopped the motorcycle, they found an issue with the boy. At that time, the girl picked up her phone and wrote, ‘We met dogs.’ The police then filed a lawsuit under Section 505. If the girl hadn’t written that, we could have carried on our way. Now we can’t solve the problem. We’ve been in court for almost a month,” said a resident.
The university student was sentenced to 6 months in prison at the Moke Ta Ma Police Station for writing and distributing the message ‘We met dogs” on social media during the junta’s investigation. A case was opened under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code.
The two students are residents of Kywechan village in Paung Township. One of two was released on November 5, after spending 15 days in the Paung Township jail and paying a fine of 200,000 kyats.
Saw Yarza Min, from Paung Township, Oketadar Village, along with Aung Min Htwe, Chit Thu Paing, and Ma Aye Ni Ni Aung from Kywechan Village, were arrested and sentenced to prison on October 27 under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code. Their charges stemmed from writing and distributing texts that aimed to discredit state officials on social networking sites.
On November 5, according to the Association for Assistance of Political Prisoners (AAPP), it reported that 797 civilians have been arrested in Mon State following the military coup.
