Jailing prompts fresh protests

Jailing prompts fresh protests

By Noe Noe Aung   |   Sunday, 01 December 2013

The jailing of two men who led protests against the confiscation of land in Yangon's Thingangyun township has prompted others displaced by the land grab to launch a 24-hour protest.

Former residents of Mee Kyaung Kan ward in Thingangyun township protest beside Waizayandar Road on November 26. (Ko Taik/The Myanmar Times)

U Sein Than and U Kyaw Lwin were sentenced to three months' jail with hard labour on the morning of November 26 under section 18 of the peaceful protest law, which allows judges to impose a sentence of up to one year of jail on those found to have participated in an illegal protest. Four other protest leaders have also been charged.

The pair helped to lead protests by former residents of Mee Gyaung Kan 1, 2 and 3 wards in Thingangyun, who were evicted from their homes by the military in 1991. The residents have staged seven protests in recent months calling for compensation for the return of their former land.

"U Sein Than and U Kyaw Lwin were sent to Insein prison on November 26 and we started the protest after that," demonstrator Ma Nay Nwe Than said.

Sitting along the pavement on Waizayandar Road, demonstrators chanted slogans and erected vinyl banners that read "Give Our Land Back".

Their demands include for the authorities to stop construction on the disputed land, to resolve the dispute as soon as possible and to release the people who have been charged or jailed under section 18.

In October, the Mee Gyaung Kan residents staged a 24-hour protest in front of City Hall that ended after three days and the intervention of two MPs from the parliament's land dispute investigation commission.

Military officials said they would negotiate if the residents could show documentation proving they had lived in Mee Gyaung Kan ward, while the MPs promised to help the residents in negotiating with military. No resolution has yet been reached, however.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/12/07/jailing-prompts-fresh-protests/