- Title: Myanmar puts dozens of Rohingya facing "illegal travel" charges on trial
- Date: 20th December 2019
- Summary: PATHEIN, MYANMAR (DECEMBER 20, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF POLICE VEHICLES ARRIVING AT COURT SUSPECTS' FEET STEPPING ON GROUND POLICE STANDING BEHIND BARS LOGO AND BADGE ON POLICE READING (English): "Myanmar Police" PATHEIN TOWNSHIP JUDGE, KHIN MYAT MYAT TUN SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Burmese) PATHEIN TOWNSHIP JUDGE, KHIN MYAT MYAT TUN, SAYING: "According to the law, if they are found guilty they will face a sentence of up to one to two years with hard labour or a fine. I will judge this case with charges mentioned in the law." VARIOUS OF POLICE VEHICLES LEAVING COURT (SOUNDBITE) (Burmese) DEFENCE LAWYER, THAZIN MYINT MYAT WIN, SAYING: "They said they came from Buthee Taung town in Rakhine state. All of them can tell the areas where they came from and they said they have the household documents at their villages. Some said they ran away from a refugee camp in Sittwe to escape trouble." VARIOUS OF COURT EXTERIOR
- Embargoed: 3rd January 2020 08:58
- Keywords: Myanmar Rakhine Refugee Rohingya court minority rights trial
- Location: PATHEIN, IRRAWADDY REGION, MYANMAR
- City: PATHEIN, IRRAWADDY REGION, MYANMAR
- Country: Myanmar
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001BAS3DQF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Dozens of Rohingya Muslims including children were brought to a court in western Myanmar on Friday (December 20) to face charges of illegally travelling without proper documents.
The group of 93, including 23 children, was arrested on Nov. 28 on a beach in the Irrawaddy delta region while fleeing apartheid-like conditions in western Myanmar's Rakhine State. They were brought to a court in the delta town of Pathein to listen to the testimony of an immigration officer who accused them of not having necessary documents for travelling.
Their defence lawyer, Thazin Myint Myat Win, said they ran away from Rakhine State "to escape trouble". If convicted they face up to two years in prison.
Footage previously released by rights group Fortify Rights showed the group of 93 crammed into overcrowded cells while awaiting trial on December 2, some of them weeping.
More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar to Bangladesh in 2017 to escape a military-led crackdown that U.N investigators have said was carried out with "genocidal intent" and included mass killings and rapes.
(Production: Zaw Naing Oo, Jiraporn Kuhakan) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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