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Carrying belongings Muslims refugees get off a vehicle as they arrive at a rescue camp in Meikhtila about 550 kilometers (340 miles) north of Yangon, Myanmar, Friday, March.22, 2013. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)
May
21, 2013
Six Muslim
men have been jailed for their role in religious clashes in the Burmese town of
Meiktila in March.
One of the
men was jailed for 34 years for killing a monk; the others received sentences
ranging from two to 14 years for crimes including unlawful assembly and
religious disrespect.
At least 43
people - mostly Muslim - died in the violence that erupted after an argument at
a Muslim-owned shop.
So far no
Buddhists have been convicted in connection with the deadly clashes.
The monk was
knocked down from his motorbike by a group of Muslim men, beaten and killed,
according to reports.
Apart from
the monk, Meiktila's violence was almost entirely directed against the Muslim
minority. It sparked small outbreaks of violence in at least three other towns
and left more than 12,000 Muslims displaced.
The owner of
the gold shop where the initial argument took place, his wife and an employee
were convicted of theft and assault in April. A boy was also convicted
alongside the six Muslim men.
Despite
damning video evidence of Muslim homes and mosques being burnt and people being
hacked to death, justice for the Buddhists is proving much slower, reports the
BBC's Jonah Fisher.
More than 40
Buddhists are thought to be in prison but a lawyer told the BBC that their
court cases were still in their early stages.
The clashes
in Meiktila were the worst since ethnic violence in Rakhine state last year,
where nearly 200 people were killed and tens of thousands forced from their
homes.
The conflict
that erupted in Rakhine involved Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, who are not
recognised as Burmese citizens.
The
communities remain largely segregated in the wake of the violence, with many
displaced Rohingya Muslims living in tents or temporary camps.
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