• Burmese
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
27 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Myanmar Court Allows Appeal of Decision to Drop Lawsuit Against Editor

Zarni Mann by Zarni Mann
August 27, 2019
in Burma
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
Ko Swe Win appears in court in Maha Aungmyay Township, Mandalay Region, in July 2017. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy

Ko Swe Win appears in court in Maha Aungmyay Township, Mandalay Region, in July 2017. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy

4.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

MANDALAY—The Mandalay District Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal against a lower court’s decision to drop a lawsuit against Myanmar Now editor Ko Swe Win, who was accused of defaming a prominent nationalist monk. 

The appeal, submitted by plaintiff Ko Kyaw Myo Shwe on Monday, followed the Maha Aung Myay Township Court’s decision on July 2 to drop the lawsuit against the editor. 

“The court accepted the appeal and will start hearing from [both sides] on Sept. 9,” said U Zaw Weik, a lawyer for the plaintiff.

RelatedPosts

Myanmar Junta Leads Global Regimes in Digital Repression

Myanmar Junta Leads Global Regimes in Digital Repression

February 25, 2025
1k
Flower Phobia Strikes Myanmar’s Ruling Junta Again, Dozens Arrested

Flower Phobia Strikes Myanmar’s Ruling Junta Again, Dozens Arrested

June 20, 2024
2.3k
Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public

February 7, 2024
90k

Nationalist U Kyaw Myo Shwe sued Myanmar Now editor Ko Swe Win on July 30, 2017 under Article 66(d) of the Burma Telecommunication Act for posting comments on Facebook that allegedly defamed ultra-nationalist Buddhist monk U Wirathu.

The lawyer said the township court’s decision was inappropriate, because Ko Swe Win had insulted the monk online and even during an interview with Radio Free Asia (RFA)’s Burmese-language service. 

“For the township court to drop the case, the lawsuit must have been filed incorrectly. But he [Ko Swe Win] has posted [defamatory comments] on Facebook and even gave an interview to RFA. Moreover, the court dropped the case because the plaintiff’s witnesses were not present in court; this is inappropriate, so we’ve submitted an appeal to the district court asking it to review the lawsuit,” the lawyer said. 

“The court should not have dropped the case so easily. It must call the witnesses to the court until they appear,” he said. 

During the original trial, the plaintiff’s witnesses U Wirathu, Ko Kyaw Swar Tun and Badanda Teikaneinya Biwuntha, as well as the investigating officer, Police Lieutenant Kyaw Thu, all failed to appear before the court several times. 

U Wirathu is currently on the run from an arrest warrant. He is wanted by police under the Sedition Law for allegedly spreading hatred against State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the government. Pol Lt Kyaw Thu is also on the run, from a lawsuit under the Anti-Corruption Law. The failure of the two fugitive witnesses to appear in court prompted the court in Maha Aung Myay Township to drop the lawsuit against Ko Swe Win in early July.

Daw Ywat Nu Aung, a lawyer for Ko Swe Win, said she had not received an official notice from the district court, but added she was ready to defend her client. 

“Under the law they [the plaintiff’s legal team] have the right to appeal to the higher court. So, they applied and the court agreed to hear from the lawyers for both sides. I am not worried about this, as the township court’s decision was reached in accordance with the law,” she said. 

“They can submit appeals to several higher courts, and we are ready to follow every step they make,” she said.

You may also like these stories:

Jailed Myanmar Now Editor Released on Bail

Judge Rejects Evidence in Myanmar Now Editor’s Defamation Case

Your Thoughts …
Tags: appealArticle 66(d)DefamationFacebookKo Swe WinMyanmar NowseditionU WirathuUltranationalist
Zarni Mann

Zarni Mann

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public
Burma

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public

by The Irrawaddy
February 7, 2024
90k

People’s Defense Force says junta troops told every household in the village to send one member to witness the double...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Arrests Youths For Posting About Silent Strike on Facebook
Burma

Myanmar Junta Arrests Youths For Posting About Silent Strike on Facebook

by The Irrawaddy
February 2, 2024
3.2k

Two youths and an English teacher were arrested in Mandalay over Facebook posts and more than 90 jade shops in...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Charity Chief Rearrested by Junta After 2 Years in Jail
Burma

Myanmar Charity Chief Rearrested by Junta After 2 Years in Jail

by The Irrawaddy
August 11, 2023
2.4k

Whereabouts of Ma Shwe Mahar Nwe unknown after she was snatched while donating blood in Mandalay.

Read moreDetails
Flower Phobia Strikes Myanmar’s Ruling Junta Again, Dozens Arrested
Burma

Flower Phobia Strikes Myanmar’s Ruling Junta Again, Dozens Arrested

by The Irrawaddy
June 20, 2024
2.3k

Junta security personnel arrest civilians for proximity to flowers at the annual flower strike marking the birthday of jailed civilian...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Leads Global Regimes in Digital Repression
Burma

Myanmar Junta Leads Global Regimes in Digital Repression

by Naung Naung
February 25, 2025
1k

Together with India and Pakistan, Myanmar accounts for the lion’s share of internet shutdowns worldwide, leaving other tinpot dictatorships in...

Read moreDetails
An apparent Facebook ban on the word “kalar” has caused outrage among netizens in Burma.  / The Irrawaddy
Burma

Facebook Ban of Racial Slur Sparks Debate in Burma

by The Irrawaddy
May 31, 2017
8.5k

An apparent Facebook ban of the term ‘kala’—increasingly used as an anti-Muslim slur—causes uproar among Burma’s online community.   

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Muse, in northern Shan State. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy

Ongoing Fighting Decimates Myanmar-China Border Trade

The entrance to the collapsed mine in Magwe Region’s Minhla Twonship. / Voice of Myanmar

Bodies of 3 Myanmar Workers Killed in Mine Collapse Found

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

7 days ago
1.3k
‘Not a Witch Hunt’: Upholding Survivor-Centered Justice in Myanmar

‘Not a Witch Hunt’: Upholding Survivor-Centered Justice in Myanmar

5 days ago
650

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta Launches Space Agency With Russian Help

    Myanmar Junta Launches Space Agency With Russian Help

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta’s ‘Living Fence’ on Thai Border Falls to Karen Resistance

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Indian Army Accused of Deadly Strike on Separatists in Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Moves into Nawnghkio Outskirts

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar and Russian Regimes Push Indian Trade Corridor to Bypass Western Sanctions

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.