Case History: Aung San Oo
On 9 October 2015, the Mandalay’s Amarapura Township Court sentenced four students and human rights defenders to three months in prison on charges related to spray-painting graffiti at Yadanabon University.
Aung San Oo is a member of the Central Executive Committee of Mandalay District Students Union. Aung is a member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) is a nationwide student organisation which has been heavily involved in protests against the National Education Bill, which student activists claim restricts academic freedom, and against military influence within parliament. Aung has previously participated in peaceful protests against the restrictive reforms of the national education system, and the arbitrary detention of students in Myanmar.
On 9 October 2015, the Mandalay’s Amarapura Township Court sentenced four students and human rights defenders to three months in prison on charges related to spray-painting graffiti at Yadanabon University.
On 9 October 2015, the human rights defenders were sentenced to three months in prison under Articles 143, 147, and 505(b) of Burma’s penal code for having spray-painted messages criticising the government on university property on 26 June 2015. The messages were demanding the release of student activists detained following protests against the 2014 National Education Law, and criticising the overwhelming military presence in the Burmese government. The graffiti also called for amendments to Article 436 of the 2008 Constitution, which gives the military a de facto veto on approval of proposed amendments to the Constitution.
The students have been detained at Mandalay's Oh Bo Prison since their arrest on 29 June 2015. On 22 August 2015, they were brought to punishment cells and kept in solitary confinement following the launch of a hunger strike by the detained human rights defenders. They protested against the denial of bail by the Ama Ra Pu Ra Township Court, which rejected the students' request for bail in order to sit their exams on 17-29 September.
Students in Burma have been facing intense repression in Myanmar since April 2015, in particular following peaceful protests in the aftermath of Parliament's enactment of the National Education Bill. Naing Ye Wai, Gist Too, Aung San Oo and Nyan Lin Htet were arrested, along with approximately 126 other students, in a brutal police clamp-down of a protest march in Letpadan on 10 March 2015, before being later released.
Student human rights defenders, Naing Ye Wai, Aung San Oo, Gist Too and Nyan Lin Htet, are being held in solitary confinement at Obo prison as a result of their recent hunger strike.
The detained students launched the hunger strike in response to the denial of their request for bail in order to sit their university exams.
The students have been held in solitary confinement in punishment cells since 22 August 2015. The transfer took place shortly after the student rights defenders launched a hunger strike in protest against the denial of bail. On 21 August, the Ama Ra Pu Ra Township Court (Mandalay division) rejected the students' request for bail in order to sit their exams on 17-29 September. The judge argued that granting them bail could increase the risk of another protest.
Naing Ye Wai, Gist Too, Aung San Oo and Nyan Lin Htet were arrested and detained at Mandalay's Oh Bo Prison on 1 July 2015. Upon their arrest, the students were accused of carrying out a recent graffiti campaign criticising the government. On 26 June 2015, messages were spray-painted in the grounds of Yadanabon University demanding the release of student activists detained following protests against the 2014 National Education Law, and criticising the overwhelming military presence in the Burmese government. The graffiti also called for amendments to Article 436 of the 2008 Constitution, which gives the military a de facto veto on approval of proposed amendments to the Constitution.
The students face charges of incitement, rioting, abetting, and unlawful assembly under Sections 143, 147 and 505 (b) of the Penal Code and Section 18 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law.
On 29 June 2015, student human rights defenders, Naing Ye Wai, Gist Too, Aung San Oo and Nyan Lin Htet were arrested by police officers in Amarapura Township, Mandalay.
Upon their arrest, the students were accused of being responsible for a recent graffiti campaign criticising the government. On 26 June 2015, messages were spray-painted on the grounds of Yadanabon University demanding the release of student activists detained following protests against the 2014 National Education Law, and criticising the overwhelming military presence in the Burmese government. The graffiti also called for amendments to Article 436 of the 2008 Constitution, which gives the military a de facto veto on approval of proposed amendments to the Constitution. According to police reports, the detained students will face charges under at least three articles of Burma's Penal Code, including articles 143 147 and 505(b), which respectively relate to partaking in an unlawful assembly, rioting, and causing fear or public alarm that may induce offences against the State. The students are currently detained at Mandalay's Oh Bo Prison.
Students in Burma have recently faced intense repression in Burma, in particular following peaceful protests in the aftermath of Parliament's enactment of the National Education Bill. Naing Ye Wai, Gist Too, Aung San Oo and Nyan Lin Htet were arrested, along with approximately 126 other students, in the brutal police clamp-down on a protest march in Letpadan on 10 March 2015, before being later released. Between the night of 30 June and the morning of 1 July 2015, seven of the student activists who remain detained following the crackdown in Letpadan were transferred to solitary confinement in Tharrawaddy Prison.
