88-year-old woman jailed for squatting
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NAY PYI TAW - Tin Hlaing, an 88-year-old woman, was last week sentenced to one month in Yamethin prison for squatting while Daw Nyo, an 82-year-old woman, faces similar charges.
Tin Hlaing lived in ward no.6 of Lewe Township. Daw Nyo of Shansu village was sentenced to a month in prison last year under section 26 and is now being charged under section 27 because her home has not been demolished.
Tin Hlaing said: “We are designated as squatters. I sell plums and have lived there since 2009. I was ordered to demolish my hut but I can’t because I have nowhere to go. I told them I would move if they give me somewhere else or compensate me and help with transport charges. I am sick. I can’t go to prison. I want to stay here. I want to die.
“I want to ask the president why the government is filing lawsuits against us. We are the real citizens. Where is the poverty alleviation he spoke about? Where should we live? We heard his speeches on the TV and radio. However, his words and actions are different. I would like to tell him the truth.”
Tin Hlaing’s daughter said: “The judge made a one-sided decision. I wasn’t allowed to meet her [the judge]. My mother has a disease. I can’t go to the prison often.”
Daw Nyo said: “I am living on my own land but the authorities filed a lawsuit under section 26 and they sentenced me to prison. If I knock down my home, where am I going to go? I have lived here for about 40 years ago.”
Mi Mi Than, a judge from Nay Pyi Taw City Development Court, who gave the sentences also sentenced Aung Win, 74, and Nga Chun, 67, to a month in jail in January for violating section 26.
