Student arrested, activist sentenced over unpopular protests
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Po Po, a member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) and participant in the main boycott student column, was arrested at her home in Thanlyin Township, Yangon, on the evening of April 8.
“She was coming home for a while because she hadn’t seen her mother for a long time. Her friends told her not to go back home. However, she wanted to see her mother. She was arrested at home with the help of informants in her ward. She was detained at the Thanlyin Myoma Police Station before being brought to the Kamayut Police Station,” said ABFSU member Ei Po.
“She was arrested for participation in the boycott student column in Heldan on March 10. We charged her under Sections 143, 145 and 505(B). Currently, she is being detained in our police station,” said an unidentified police officer form the Kamayut Police Station.
Four other student leaders from the ABFSU, including Kyaw Ko Ko and Nanda Sit Aung, have been charged under various sections of the penal code at the Kamayut Police Station.
Meanwhile, activist Wai Lu was sentenced to one year in prison on April 8 for violating Section 505(B) of the penal code by supporting the Michaungkan protestors, who demand compensation for lands they lost to government seizures.
Wai Lu said: “The police can arrest suspects only with a warrant for a violation of Section 505(B). But they took me without a warrant. What is more, when I asked the court what police regiment was responsible for my case, they said it is unknown. Now, I’ve been sentenced to one year in prison. There is someone conniving to disrupt the unity between the police and the public.”
“We can forgive imprisonment, but we can’t forgive such unlawful arrests. Even politicians are arrested unlawfully. How can people live without the protection of the law? I don’t hate the judge who sentenced me to a year in prison. But I can’t forgive the authorities’ suppression of the public. The detained students and workers are the family members of this country. All they want is freedom. Let people be free from homelessness and hopelessness created by the mismanagement of successive regimes,” he said.
Wai Lu’s mother said: “I’m sorry that my son faces imprisonment. My son’s actions are right. He loves truth. Actually, he should have been sentenced to just six months. It’s unfair.”
Wai Lu has been imprisoned previously for his involvement in social movements, including the Letpadaungtaung conflict.
