Prominent Rakhine politician U Aye Maung and writer Wai Hin Aung will be charged for high treason and inciting the public for inflammatory speeches made in the restive state in January. The pair were arrested after making comments in Rathedaung Township, Rakhine State, and were initially charged under the Unlawful Associations Act. However, this charge was dropped at a hearing at Sittwe court, in the state capital. In the comments, Aye Maung and Wai Hin Aung are alleged to have accused the government of treating Rakhine people “like slaves”. Shortly after their speeches, a planned event to commemorate the fall of the Arakan Empire was cancelled in Mrauk-U. In protests that followed the cancellation of the event, seven people were killed. “Although we have nothing, not even a toothpick, we have been charged with high treason,” said Aye Maung, who is a senior member of the Arakan National Party (ANP). Daw Aye Nu Sein, the lawyer for Wai Hin Aung, said that an appeal will be launched, according to an article in the Myanmar Times.
