Myanmar’s military regime has sentenced jailed anti-junta protest leader Ko Wai Moe Naing to an additional 20 years in prison, according to sources close to him.
The 28-year-old pro-democracy activist has now been sentenced to 34 years in total, having already been given a 14 year sentence for four charges including incitement and under the Natural Disaster Management Law at trials in August and October last year.
Ko Wai Moe Naing, a former student union leader, has been held in Monywa Prison, Sagaing Region since his arrest in April 2021 during an anti-regime rally.
On April 5, a junta court in Monywa Prison sentenced Ko Wai Moe Naing to 20 years under five more charges including robbery, rioting and carrying a deadly weapon in a crowd.
The activist defended himself at the trial as neither of his two lawyers was able to attend. One has been detained, while the other is in hiding after being made the subject of an arrest warrant.
He also has been charged with treason under Article 122 of the Penal Code for leading protests in Monywa and for being affiliated with the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, a grouping of deposed lawmakers that the junta has declared an unlawful organization.
Anyone convicted under Article 122 faces a death sentence or life imprisonment. Ko Wai Moe Naing also faces one charge of murder.
As of Friday, 3,225 people had been killed by junta forces while 21,276 including elected government leaders have been arrested or detained since the Myanmar military’s 2021 coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which monitors deaths and arrests under the regime.
