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Showing posts from October 9, 2014

Rohingya activist U Kyaw Hla Aung released

By Bill O’Toole Myanmar Times October 9, 2014 Less than two weeks after being convicted of rioting in a Sittwe court, Muslim community leader U Kyaw Hla Aung was released under a presidential amnesty on October 7. U Kyaw Hla Aung was arrested on July 15, 2013, following a clash in the Baw Du Pha IDP camp when a group of young Muslims refused to fill out an immigration department form that identified them as “Bengali”. The situation escalated to the point where the youths allegedly attacked several immigration police. Shortly afterward, U Kyaw Hla Aung was arrested and accused of inciting the group to attack the police. Many observers said the charges were directly related to U Kyaw Hla Aung’s longstanding political activism and legal assistance on behalf of detained Muslims in Rakhine State. While 3073 prisoners were freed on October 7, Yangon-based attorney U Robert Sann Aung said U Kyaw Hla Aung was one of just a handful who could be described as a “politic