A Burmese court in Sittwe on March 19 sentenced [8] prominent Rakhine ethnic leader Aye Maung to 20 years in prison for treason and defamation stemming from a January 2018 speech made one day before deadly riots broke out in Mrauk-U township. Maung, a member of parliament and former chairman of the Arakan National Party, was arrested along with writer Wai Hin Aung days after giving "inflammatory" speeches. Maung is said to have accused [9] the ethnic Bamar [10]-dominated ruling National League for Democracy (NLD [11]) government of treating the ethnic Rakhine people (also known as the Arakan) like "slaves." Seven people were killed the evening after the speeches, when Rakhine protestors seized a government building and police opened fire. Maung’s lawyers are unsure if he will appeal at this time, as a new trial in the case could result in a death sentence. Both Maung and Aung received 18 years for treason and two for defamation.
From Jurist [12], March 20. Used with permission.
Note: The sentence comes amid new fighting between Burmese government forces and the Arakan Army [13] rebel militia. A report from Burma Task Force [14] upon Aye Maung's April 2017 election to parliament calls him a "genocidalist" who ran on a platform demonizing Rakhine state's persecuted Rohingya [15] people.
