A junta court inside Sittwe Prison in the Rakhine State capital has sentenced over 100 residents of Byian Phyu Village to three years in prison under Section 17 (1) of the Unlawful Association Act for allegedly having ties to the Arakan Army (AA).
Junta soldiers, along with allied Arakan Liberation Party and Muslim militias raided Byian Phyu on May 28. More than 70 villagers were killed and over 300 were detained, according to villagers and the AA.
Other villagers were forcibly relocated to Sittwe town.
The regime later released 30 elderly men but prosecuted 270 others including 17 students aged around 18.
One family member of a jailed villager said: “Over 100 villagers were given three years’ imprisonment on Friday in the first batch. I heard the remaining 170 people would also be jailed.”
The remaining 170 remain in custody in Sittwe Prison.
Junta troops occupying Byian Phyu Village have looted houses, residents said.
