The 13 soldiers confessed in court to having connections with the Arakan Army and were found guilty of contacting an illegal organisation by the Sittwe township court on June 17. The defendant’s lawyer Daw Aye Nu Sein said there was currently no plan to appeal the verdict.
Fighting between the Arakan Army and the Tatmadaw first broke out in April 2015, after the ethnic armed group launched an attack on government troops in western Rakhine State. Since then sporadic clashes have continued, displacing more than 1000 civilians. Arrests under the Unlawful Association Act occur frequently in conflict zones around the country, as civilians are detained for alleged links to ethnic armed groups. More than 60 people were arrested in Rakhine State under the Unlawful Association Act in May this year. The Tatmadaw accused most of them of being members of the Arakan Army, after the ethnic armed group again clashed with government forces in Kyauktaw township a month earlier. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
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