Swe Win’s lawyer calls on Religious Affairs Ministry to comment on lawsuit

Following Ma Ha Na’s statement banning him from giving sermons, Wirathu staged a silent protest that was broadcast live on his Facebook account. Photo: Facebook / Wira Thu
Following Ma Ha Na’s statement banning him from giving sermons, Wirathu staged a silent protest that was broadcast live on his Facebook account. Photo: Facebook / Wira Thu

Police authorities have officially met with Myanmar Now editor Swe Win to collect his testimony in regards to Ma Ba Tha’s lawsuit against him. The meeting took place yesterday when two officers from Mandalay’s Maha Aung Myay No.7 Police Station met with Swe Win and his legal advisor Khin Maung Myint to question the defendant.

Following the hour-long interrogation, Khin Maung Myint related to media that they had requested that the authorities have a discussion with higher-ranking officials to ascertain whether or not the case still had merit.

As quoted by 7Day, the lawyer explained, “Ko Kyaw Myo Shwe filed the case against Ko Swe Win on March 7. On [March] 10, Ma Ha Na [officially recognized as the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee] issued a statement banning Sayardaw Wirathu from preaching for a year… On the 11th, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture issued another statement warning that a breach of the order would lead to legal action. These two notices supersede Ko Kyaw Myo Shwe’s lawsuit. As a result, there’s no need for Ko Swe Win to explain himself.”

In a statement that was released last week, Ma Ha Na recognized that Wirathu “has repeatedly delivered hate speech against religions to cause communal strife and hinder efforts to uphold the rule of law” and the latter was consequently “banned from delivering sermons across Myanmar for one year from March 10, 2017 to March 9, 2018.”

“The suit cited [Ko Swe Win] had tarnished their reputation. But the [Ma Ha Na] committee who would be making the decision has already said that U Wirathu’s actions are unlawful, and that they have negatively impacted the council — this already implies what their decision would be; on the 13th, the Minister for the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture himself also gave this answer. This supersedes the case.”

“They [Ma Ha Na] don’t approve of [Wirathu’s actions], and the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture’s Minister himself has also said that the Ministry doesn’t approve of them either. This is why we’re asking the relevant ministries to have a discussion amongst themselves. We’ve requested remarks from Ma Ha Na and the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture to determine whether or not to proceed with the case.”

This isn’t the first time that Ma Ha Na has voiced their disapproval of Wirathu and Ma Ba Tha’s actions. Last July, the council stated that it had never officially endorsed Ma Ba Tha, and that the latter was operating outside of Sangha rules and regulations.

In a Myanmar Now interview at the time, a leading monk from the Saffron Revolution explained, “There has been a remarkable division among people and monks. The works of Ma Ba Tha are disturbing Myanmar’s communities – instead of protecting race and religion.”

In regards to the future of the lawsuit, Swe Win added: “If the case will proceed in accordance with the law, then I’ll give my full cooperation. I’m not running anywhere. I wrote under the [Ba Kaung] account. I’m not going to argue that the account isn’t mine.”

Police Lieutenant Kyaw Thu — one of the officers who met with Swe Win and Khin Maung Myint — also said yesterday that they would relay the defendant’s requests to the relevant high-level officials in order to proceed with the case.

Subscribe to the WTF is Up in Southeast Asia + Hong Kong podcast to get our take on the top trending news and pop culture from the region every Thursday!



Reader Interactions

Leave A Reply


BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on