Amnesty International is also concerned that almost a year after the crackdown on the student movement, authorities have continued to file charges against student leaders. In February 2016, at least three student leaders received additional charges for participating in unauthorized peaceful protests at the end of 2014 and at the beginning of 2015.49 Students who have continued to protest in 2016 have also been charged for their peaceful activities. Four students who led a peaceful demonstration in Mandalay Region in January 2016 marking the one year anniversary of the student protest marches have been charged under the Peaceful Assembly Act. 50 CRACKDOWN ON THE STUDENT MOVEMENT Student leaders, union members, and their supporters have been charged with a range of offences, all of them under the same Sections of the Penal Code – 143, 145, 14751 and 505(b) – for protests which took place at different times, in different locations and about different issues. They include: 81 Letpadan student protesters arrested on 10 March 2015 during a largely peaceful protest against the National Education Law in Letpadan, Bago Region, Central Myanmar. They had been marching since February towards Yangon and they were violently dispersed by police after talks between student leaders and the authorities to address their students’ demands broke down. All were charged under Sections 143,145,147, 505(b) of the Penal Code and 45 of them remain in detention in Tharawaddy prison, Bago Region.52 Six student protesters and student union members charged for protesting peacefully on 10 March 2015 in Yangon. They had learned about the violent police crackdown in Letpadan earlier that day, and had gathered at Hledan junction in Yangon at 2:30pm to march downtown in protest. All were charged under Sections 143,145,147, and 505(b) of the Penal Code. Three of them are detained in Insein prison while on trial. Six student union members and their supporters arrested in Myingyan, Mandalay Region between 27 and 30 March 2015 for organizing a peaceful protest on 27 March calling for the release of students arrested in Letpadan just weeks before. All six were sentenced on 28 January 2016 to nine months’ imprisonment under Sections 143, 145 and 505(b) of the Penal Code by the Myingyan Township Court. Five were released on completion of their sentences53 and one is on bail as he is facing additional charges for other protests. Four students in Mandalay arrested in July 2015 after peacefully protesting on 29 June 2015. During the protest they had spray-painted a graffiti message over a sign at Yadanabon University, criticizing the militarydominated Parliament, calling for the release of all detained students and for the National Education Law to be amended. On 9 October 2015, they were each sentenced to a total of 12 months' imprisonment under Sections 143 and 505(b) of the Penal Code and Section 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Act. The judge ordered their sentences to be served concurrently meaning that their sentences were six months each, taking into account time served in pre-trial detention. Three were released on completion of their sentences on 22 December 2015; the fourth was released as part of a presidential prisoner amnesty on 22 January 2016. Naw Noreen, “Jailed students hit with fresh charges”, DVB, 4 February 2016, available at: http://www.dvb.no/news/jailed-students-hit-withfresh-charges/60611, accessed 17 February 2016. 50 Zarni Mann, “Charges Filed Against Students Over Jan. 20 Protest March”, The Irrawaddy, 11 February 2016, available at: http://www.irrawaddy.com/burma/charges-filed-against-students-over-jan-20-protest-march.html, accessed on 17 February 2016. 51 Provisions relating to “unlawful assemblies”, described and analysed in Chapter 4, p37 52 70 protesters are facing an additional charge under Section 332 of the Penal Code for “voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty”. Amnesty International is aware of reports that some of the protesters threw water bottles during the protest, although the main violence which took place on this occasion was that used by police against the student demonstrators. The organization is not aware of any evidence of individual criminal responsibility for acts of violence by any of the students, and at the time of writing, no evidence of violence by specific individuals had had been presented by the prosecution at the students’ hearings before the Tharawaddy Township Court. 53 Time spent in pre-trial detention counted as time served towards their sentence. 49 NEW EXPRESSION MEETS OLD REPRESSION ENDING THE CYCLE OF POLITICAL ARRESTS AND IMPRISONMENT IN MYANMAR Amnesty International 23