Sagaing court sentences activists to between 3 and 13 years in prison

A court in Myanmar’s northern Sagaing region has sentenced nine activists to prison terms ranging from three to 13 years, according to friends of the families.

Final year law student and anti-regime strike leader Kyaw Win Sein received a 10-year sentence Friday under the Counter Terrorism Law, and one and a half years for incitement to sedition in the civil service.

Kyaw Win Sein is believed to be around 30-years-old. He actively participated in anti-regime protests in Homalin township and boycotted his lessons after the military seized power in a February 2021 coup. Shortly after the coup, the junta issued a warrant for his arrest but he managed to evade capture until August last year.

Fellow activists sentenced by the Homalin township court on Friday – seven men and a woman – also received long prison terms.

“Nwet Nwet Aung was imprisoned for 10 years; Aung Hein for 10 years; Aung Ko Min for 10 years; Thet Tun Oo for 10 years; Sai Wai Yan for 13 years; Nay Naw for five years; Pyoe Thet Tin for five years; and Aung Myint Oo for three years,” said a family friend who declined to be named for fear of reprisals. “They all are in good health.”

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners the junta arrested more than 21,000 people since seizing power in a February 2021 coup. Of those nearly 17,400 are still being held in prisons across the country.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.