Myanmar: Rakhine politician gets jail term for treason

A Myanmar court on Tuesday handed down jail terms for two prominent nationalists for treason charges over the deadly riots in volatile Rakhine state, local media said.

A district court in Sittwe, capital of Rakhine state, sentenced Aye Maung, former chairman of powerful Arakan National Party (ANP) and a union parliament member previously, and writer Wai Hnin Aung to 20 years in prison each.

Maung and Aung were arrested early 2018 after nine people were killed in a clash between police and protestors in the Mrauk U town in northern Rakhine state.

The two were filed charges against under the Unlawful Associations Act, as well as the Penal Code for allegedly promoting support for the outlawed Arakan army during a public speech in the Rathedaung Township days before the deadly riot.

In his speech last year to mark the anniversary of the fall of the Mrauk U Kingdom with the invasion of a Burmese king more than 200 years ago, Maung accused the government of treating Rakhine ethnic people like “slaves” and called to support the armed rebellion led by the Arakan army.

Armed clashes have intensified in Rakhine, especially in northern parts, since March last year when the Arakan army claimed Rakhine's majority Buddhist ethnic group returned to base forces in the area.

Nearly 10,000 people, mostly ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, fled their homes since military launched an offensive in Rakhine after Arakan army killed at least 13 security forces during a coordinated attack on four border guard police outposts near Myanmar’s border with Bangladesh in January.

Alongside its alliance with rebel groups, the Arakan army previously fought against the government troops in the northern Kachin state and the northeastern Shan state.

Earlier this month, the Arakan army killed nine police officers during a late night raid on a police station in Yoetayote village near Sittwe, the latest of the group’s several attacks on security forces and government officials in the area.