By THE IRRAWADDY 6
August 2017
YANGON— Following
the government’s early-morning Saturday raid on an anti-government protest camp
in Mandalay set up by nationalist monks and laymen, six out of eight leading
monks have been detained and charged with “Offence against the State or the
Public Tranquility”—a Penal Code article punishable by two years’ imprisonment.
Mandalay Regional
Police Force said eight leading monks and five laypersons had been on an arrest
warrant since Friday but only six monks were arrested during Saturday’s raid,
the rest are still at large.
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The regional Police
Chief Aung Soe Win told local media the police are “in pursuit” of the other
individuals.
Read and
watch here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MirAhmedABSiddiquee/posts/i8TqhQcZjXt
Several dozen
nationalist monks and laymen had camped near Maha Muni Pagoda in Mandalay and
the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon since Wednesday afternoon, calling for the
government to step down as it has failed to protect national interests and
security.
Rather than
attracting support, the protestors’ calls earned public condemnation for
inflaming nationalism and anti-Muslim sentiment derailing Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi-led government’s reform process in the country.
On Saturday
afternoon, Mandalay Chief Minister Dr. Zaw Myint Maug said during a press
conference on the raid that the government had carried out the clearance
operation “according to legal procedures.” Eleven monks and two women were
arrested in Mandalay on Saturday.
“The reason behind
their protest is not solid. We told them several times to disperse for what
they were doing is unlawful. But our warnings fell on deaf ears,” he told
reporters.
He added that the
protestors had committed crimes covered by “several other charges,” but they
have been charged with 505(b) of the Penal Code as the government wanted to
tackle the situation as peacefully as possible.
The chief minister
said he suspected there was someone behind the protests who wanted to
“destabilize” the country, but said it was difficult to find out who.
Around 4 p.m. on
Saturday in Yangon, when seven nationalist monks and about 30 supporters
announced that they shut down their camp temporarily, local residents clapped
in jubilation. The protestors shouted back with obscenities.
When asked how long
they would postpone the protest, the nationalists failed to answer. “We protest
because we want to criticize the government we love,” said one of the leading
monks.
It’s not clear if
Yangon protestors will be prosecuted with similar charges to their Mandalay
counterparts.