A court in Rangoon yesterday jailed four Burmese nationalists for staging an anti-Rohingya protest outside the US embassy in April.
The four, named as Win Ko Ko Latt, Naung Taw Lay, Thet Myo Oo and Tin Win Aung, were sentenced to a total of seven months in prison: a six-month term under Article 505 (b) – for “inciting public unrest” – and an additional month for violating the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law.
Also facing charges for their involvement in the demonstration are three Buddhist monks. Kamayut township court has summoned the trio several times, but they did not appear for trial.
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Kamayut township authorities say they did not authorise the march on 28 April from Rangoon University to the US embassy compound, but had instead permitted a rally to take place at the Bo Sein ground in Tamwe Township. Nonetheless, monks and nationalists had assembled outside the US embassy, where they denounced the use of the term “Rohingya” in an embassy statement offering condolences for the losses suffered when a boat sank off the coast of Sittwe in Arakan State.
