Detained students lose visitation rights for six weeks
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Prison authorities imposed a six-week visit ban on 35 detained students who were involved in the protests against the National Education Law in March.
The ban was announced when they were brought to their seventh trial session at Thayawady Court on June 30. Their bail appeals were filed at the district court.
Under the ban, they are prohibited from receiving visitors. It was imposed after the authorities discovered that cigarettes and betel were smuggled into the prison. The students were enraged and their leaders said that they would stage a protest.
“Thirty-five of the detained students are not allowed to see their parents and relatives because they brought cigarettes and betel? The punishment was delivered in accordance with a prison law from 1894. It was a law used by the British against Myanmar revolutionaries. It is outdated in the current age,” said student leader Min Thway Thit.
“We are not criminals, and we haven't brought prohibited items into the prison. We demanded permitted items for political prisoners. We suppose the government is intentionally oppressing us. We don’t accept this situation. We decided to boycott the police’s ban on the detained students.”
The Thayawady District government has been accused of stalling for time while handling the cases of the detained students.
“It has not been easy for us to come to the court for trial. We experienced transport cost and waste of time. We want the court to handle our case quickly. Trial sessions are every two weeks. It seems the judicial sector is killing time. The court did not examine us in an effective way. The plaintiff is still being questioned. We don’t know how long our case will last. We will not tolerate this situation. We want our case to be finished quickly. We are ready for the final result of the trial,” said student leader Phyoe Phyoe Aung.
During the most recent trial session, detained protester Khin Hlaing lost consciousness and was rushed to Thayawady Hospital.
“The young students should live at home as they like. Min Thway Thit was sickly in his childhood. He is fed hard rice in the prison. Better healthcare should be provided to the detained students,” said the mother of Min Thway Thit.
The judge of the Thayawady court scheduled the next trial session for July 14, but the detained students objected to it. The students held a ceremony at the court to mark the day on which the student union building was bombed by the government on July 7, 1962. They remained silent for one minute and sang a song titled “Ga-bar-ma-kyay-bue.”
