Naypyitaw — The hearing of eight Cooperatives Department employees, who joined the civil disobedience movement on Monday at Myoma Market in Naypyitaw, took place on Wednesday at Zabuthiri Township Court.
The seven women and a man, ranking from junior clerk to officer from the Lewe Township office and Cooperatives Department head office in Naypyitaw, were charged with disobedience under Article 188 of the Penal Code.
The complaint was filed by the Zabuthiri Township administrator and the judge granted bail.
“The complaint said the civil servants defied their orders,” Daw Nan Aye Mya Thiri, an associate Zabuthiri judge, told reporters.
On Wednesday, the court heard from the plaintiff, police officers as prosecution witnesses and a defendant.
Under Article 188, any civil servant who defies a government order can face up to six months in prison.
The defendants declined to talk to The Irrawaddy.
On Monday, police also detained 36 student protesters, 20 people who protested outside the National Planning Ministry and 20 Kyitaungkan villagers in Naypyitaw.
The authorities released 27 student protesters on Monday evening but the others remain in detention.
Zabuthiri Township Court is also hearing the cases of President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
The court is inside the compound of Naypyitaw Council. Some journalists trying to cover activists’ hearings on Wednesday were denied access.
The military regime has warned that it will arrest and possibly prosecute those who protest in areas under curfew.
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