Nationalist Activists Sentenced to Six Months in Prison

By May Sitt Paing 6 September 2017

YANGON — Nationalist activists Ko Win Ko Ko Latt and Ko Naing Win Tun were sentenced to six months in prison by the Bahan Township Court on Wednesday for staging a protest in Yangon without permission.

Another nationalist activist, Ko Poe Tha, was sentenced to one month in prison, but he was released on Wednesday after the time was served during the pre-sentencing detention period.

The three staged a protest in July last year against the terminology used by Myanmar’s representative at the 32nd session of the UN Human Rights Council. He used the phrase “Muslim community in Rakhine State” to refer to self-identifying Rohingya in the region.

Three monks, including nationalist monk U Parmaukka of the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion—better known by its Burmese acronym Ma Ba Tha—and four nationalists including Ko Win Ko Ko Latt are facing a trial at the Kamayut Township Court for staging a protest against the terminology of “Rohingya community” in front of the American Embassy in July last year. They are charged with defaming the government.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko