Three women and two men have been sentenced to life in prison for their alleged ties to anti-regime groups in Sagaing Region’s Indaw Township, according to a resistance source.
All five were charged under sections 50j and 52a of Myanmar’s Counter-Terrorism Law and tried by a military tribunal, the source said.
Indaw is one of 14 townships in Sagaing Region that were placed under martial law in February. A total of 53 townships around the country are currently under direct military control.
One of the defendants, a 26-year-old charcoal maker from the village of Kanni named Min Min Oo, was arrested on February 8 and sentenced within 30 days, according to the information officer of Indaw Revolution, a local defence team.
“Min Min Oo was captured during a raid and accused of having ties to the PDF,” said the information officer, referring to the People’s Defence Force, the armed wing of the shadow National Unity Government.
The other four defendants were sentenced earlier this month, he added.
Aye Min Tun, a resident of the village of Nat Ma Hote Kalay, was reportedly arrested last month after he engaged in conversation with some plainclothes soldiers he had mistaken for members of the PDF.
The three women who received life sentences were identified as Thein Hla, a teacher taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement against military rule, and street vendors Khin Pyae Pyae Tun and Aye Aye.
All three were arrested because their names appeared on a list of donors seized by the military from two captured members of a local defence team, according to the information officer.
A number of anti-regime groups are active in Indaw Township, including the PDF and local defence teams, as well as the Kachin Independence Army, an ethnic armed group that has strongly supported the armed resistance movement.
According to the Indaw Revolution information officer, the military has tightened security in the township since martial law was imposed there two months ago, but few other changes have been observed.
