Mizzima
A pro-democracy veteran has just been handed an extra 10 years in prison by a Yangon court.
According to the legal community, Su Yee Lin, also known as Lin Lin and chairwoman of the Eastern Yangon University Students Union, faced additional charges by the Military Council under Article 50 (j) of the Terrorism Act. On 28 February, she was sentenced to an additional 10 years in prison.
Su Yee Lin was apprehended alongside Zaw Lin Htut, also known as Phoe Thar, in Thingangyun Township on 19 December, 2021, while covering a demonstration against the military dictatorship in Yangon.
Initially, they were sentenced to three years in prison with hard labour on 31 March, 2022, under Section 505 (a) of the Penal Code by the Insein prison court. Phoe Thar was released on 5 May, 2023, while Su Yee Lin remains incarcerated.
After two years since her arrest, on 8 and 14 September, the Military Council pressed charges against Su Yee Lin under Section 50 (j), resulting in a further 10 years in prison.
On 28 February, while attending Su Yee Lin’s hearing at the Eastern District Court in Yangon’s Dawbon Township, Nimo Hlaing, Su Yee Lin’s aunt, was apprehended by soldiers from the Military Council.
“She was arrested at the court. The reasons for her arrest are unknown,” said Phoe Thar, expressing uncertainty about the circumstances surrounding Nimo Hlaing’s arrest.
Nimo Hlaing has been involved in politics since 1996 as an underground activist with the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU). Additionally, she participated in the democracy movement during the 1988 uprising. Within the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, she held the position of youth officer in the central youth support group in Thingangyun Township.
As a result of Nimo Hlaing’s involvement in the 1988 uprising, she served a two-year prison sentence in Insein prison. Furthermore, she was arrested and detained for her participation in the 2007 Saffron Revolution, resulting in a five-year imprisonment term in Thayet prison, Magway region.
