YANGON—A coalition of 130 civil society groups called on the Myanmar military Friday to withdraw cases filed against a prominent lawyer, a poet and an ex-military captain for allegedly defaming the military at a public talk about constitutional amendment.
The Kawthaung Township Court accepted the military’s case on Oct. 31 and charged well-known activists lawyer U Kyi Myin, former Myanmar army Captain Nay Myo Zin and poet Saw Wai for remarks they made at a public gathering in Kawthaung Township, Tanintharyi Region, in April in support of the Parliament’s charter amendment committee.
On Friday, 130 Myanmar civil society groups working on a wide range of issues released a joint statement condemning the military’s attempt to prosecute the three activists and calling on the military to drop the case immediately.
Six months after they gave the talk in Kawthaung, the military determined that the three had defamed the Tatmadaw, as the Myanmar military is known, and the military’s leadership.
”Their comments were aimed at causing misunderstanding,’’ Colonel Thant Sin Oo from the Coastal Command told The Irrawaddy in a recent interview. He said that because of this, the military petitioned directly to the Kawthaung Court and the three were charged under Article 505 (a) of the Penal Code.
Ex-army captain Nay Myo Zin is already serving a one-year prison term on the same charge, filed by the military in Yangon, for calling the Constitution undemocratic.
The civil society groups said in their statement that the Tatmadaw’s decision to open a case against the three is a violation of the Peaceful Assembly Law, as the gathering regarding charter amendment was held in accordance with the law.
According to the groups, the military’s use of Section 505 (a) is not only a violation of the 2008 Constitution but it also runs the risk of damaging the dignity of the Tatmadaw and the country. The court’s decision to accept the military’s complaint without analyzing the case and without asking for an explanation from the three accused is also a violation of the fundamental rights of citizens, the groups said in the statement.
”The military are the government’s staff. If they are doing wrong, citizens have a right to point it out. Citizens have a right to speak out,” said Daw Naw Ohn Hla, a Karen activist and chair of the Karen Women’s Union, one of the 130 civil society groups involved in the joint statement.
Global News 
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