A Mandalay court jailed twelve Muslim men for three months with labour on Thursday after they held prayers at one of their homes and were reported for violating rules aimed at curbing Covid-19.
Two others under the age of 18 who also attended the gathering in Chan Mya Thazi township were transferred to juvenile court, the judge said.
The twelve men were sentenced under the Prevention and Control of Communicable Disease Law, which predates the pandemic but allows authorities to set rules to curb infections and jail violators for up to a year.
Judge Kyaw Zwar Lin declined to comment on the sentence when contacted by Myanmar Now. “We examined all the evidence. They pleaded guilty,” he said.
The men gathered last month at the home of Tin Soe, one of the defendants, before being informed on by Than Win, the neighbourhood’s Head of Administration.
He filed a report at the Aung Pin Lae police station and the men and boys were arrested the same day.
The men will have a month taken off their sentence for time served.
Last month a Christian preacher and three others were charged for holding a religious gathering in defiance of the ban.
David Lah told a crowd at the event that faith in Christ protected people from the virus. Days later he tested positive, and 22 other coronavirus cases were linked to his event.
Lah faces up to three years in prison under the Natural Disaster Management Law
A group who organised a large funeral service for a monk last month in Tanintharyi region are also facing charges, according to Dawei Watch.
