Reshuffle puts 'right person in right place': government
Reshuffle puts 'right person in right place': government
Reshuffle puts 'right person in right place': government
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
www.mmtimes.com<br />
News 11<br />
Bomb<strong>in</strong>g sentences<br />
‘an <strong>in</strong>justice’: accused<br />
Police patrol near where a bomb was detonated on July 21. Photo: Si Thu Lw<strong>in</strong><br />
Arrests made over<br />
July 21 Mandalay blast<br />
SI THU LWIN<br />
sithulw<strong>in</strong>.mmtimes@gmail.com<br />
POLICE have arrested two people<br />
<strong>in</strong> relation to last week’s Mandalay<br />
bomb<strong>in</strong>g who were captured on<br />
CCTV footage <strong>in</strong> the area just prior<br />
to the blast.<br />
Five people were <strong>in</strong>jured <strong>in</strong> the<br />
explosion, one of whom is still receiv<strong>in</strong>g<br />
treatment <strong>in</strong> hospital.<br />
The blast occurred on the even<strong>in</strong>g<br />
of July 21 near a preach<strong>in</strong>g ceremony<br />
conducted by controversial<br />
monk U Wirathu from Mandalay’s<br />
Masoeye<strong>in</strong> Monastery.<br />
The handmade bomb was detonated<br />
under a car parked <strong>in</strong> front of<br />
Aye Myittar medical cl<strong>in</strong>ic between<br />
84 th Street and 85 th Street <strong>in</strong> Maha<br />
Aung Myay township, about 100<br />
metres from where the sermon was<br />
tak<strong>in</strong>g place.<br />
Police identified several suspicious<br />
people from CCTV footage<br />
recorded by a nearby m<strong>in</strong>imart,<br />
the regional police force office. Two<br />
people were later arrested.<br />
“In the security camera footage<br />
we saw some suspects walk<strong>in</strong>g<br />
around the area. Police <strong>in</strong>vestigated<br />
who they are and what they were<br />
do<strong>in</strong>g,” Police Major Soe Nye<strong>in</strong> told<br />
The Myanmar Times on July 23.<br />
Three women, one man and one<br />
young novice were <strong>in</strong>jured <strong>in</strong> the<br />
blast. One of the women is be<strong>in</strong>g<br />
treated at Mandalay General Hospital,<br />
while the rest susta<strong>in</strong>ed m<strong>in</strong>or<br />
<strong>in</strong>juries.<br />
“The number of <strong>in</strong>juries was<br />
small because the bomb exploded<br />
under the car. If it had been outside<br />
the car then the number of wounded<br />
would likely have been much<br />
higher,” said a police second lieutenant<br />
who was <strong>in</strong> the area when<br />
the bomb went off.<br />
The explosion occurred at about<br />
9:15pm on the f<strong>in</strong>al day of U Wirathu’s<br />
five-day preach<strong>in</strong>g event.<br />
– Translated by Zar Zar Soe<br />
SI THU<br />
LWIN<br />
sithulw<strong>in</strong>.mmtimes@gmail.com<br />
FIVE men convicted for a series of<br />
bomb attacks that rocked Mandalay,<br />
Nay Pyi Taw and Py<strong>in</strong> Oo Lw<strong>in</strong> on<br />
June 24, 2011, have described their<br />
sentences as an “<strong>in</strong>justice”.<br />
Mandalay district court on July<br />
24 sentenced Ko Sai The<strong>in</strong> Na<strong>in</strong>g, Ko<br />
Sai Hla Aung, Ko Sai Kyaw Than, Ko<br />
Myo Kh<strong>in</strong> and Ko Sai Moe He<strong>in</strong> to 10-<br />
year jail terms on explosives offences.<br />
Three of them will also have to serve<br />
additional sentences, a deputy district<br />
law official <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> the hear<strong>in</strong>g<br />
said.<br />
“Among them, three men have<br />
had an extra two-year term added<br />
for wrongful communication offences<br />
and another man was sentenced to<br />
an additional six-month term, apart<br />
from his 12-year imprisonment, under<br />
the immigration law,” the official<br />
said.<br />
The men were arrested <strong>in</strong> Mandalay,<br />
Tachileik and Yangon a few<br />
days after the bomb attacks. The<br />
trial, which took 18 months, heard 48<br />
statements from witnesses <strong>in</strong> Tachileik,<br />
Taunggyi, Muse, Yameth<strong>in</strong> and<br />
Mandalay, and delivered its verdict<br />
beh<strong>in</strong>d closed doors.<br />
Two men convicted over a series of 2011 bomb<strong>in</strong>gs leave court on July 24.<br />
“We were not <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> the<br />
bomb<strong>in</strong>gs at all,” Ko Sai The<strong>in</strong> Na<strong>in</strong>g,<br />
who was sentenced to 12 years’<br />
imprisonment, told The Myanmar<br />
Times. “We were total strangers …<br />
[and] just became familiar <strong>in</strong> prison.<br />
“I was accused of hav<strong>in</strong>g an <strong>in</strong>com<strong>in</strong>g<br />
call to my phone dialled by<br />
terrorists. I don’t know anyth<strong>in</strong>g. It is<br />
an <strong>in</strong>justice … it’s not truth.”<br />
Photo: Si Thu Lw<strong>in</strong><br />
The five offenders said they were<br />
tortured by police after be<strong>in</strong>g deta<strong>in</strong>ed.<br />
Relatives also ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong> they<br />
are <strong>in</strong>nocent.<br />
“We have no relation with any organisation,”<br />
said Daw Su Su Na<strong>in</strong>g,<br />
sister of Ko Sai The<strong>in</strong> Na<strong>in</strong>g. “We<br />
don’t understand politics and law.<br />
We are determ<strong>in</strong>ed to have the truth<br />
heard.” – Translated by Zar Zar Soe