A judge has filed a lawsuit against an activist who gave him broken scales after receiving 15-days’ imprisonment for his part in an anti-war street performance in Kachin capital Myitkyina.
Myitkyina township court judge Than Htun did not take kindly to Pau Lu’s gift, which symbolised a miscarriage of justice, promptly filing a complaint under section 228 of the colonial-era Penal Code.
The section criminalizes “any insult, or causes interruption to any public servant” while the official is working a judicial proceeding.
It carries a jail sentence of up to six months and a fine of up to “one thousand rupees.”
The activist’s lawyer Mar Khar said the complaint was unfair because the law concerned obstruction of justice.
“Pau didn’t obstruct any justice; he was going to jail in the first place after refusing to pay the fine,” he said.
Pau Lu was sentenced along with fellow youth Kachin activist Seng Nu Pan on September 2 for organising the performance in People’s Square in downtown Myitkyina.
Led by internally displaced people (IDP) to mark the eighth-year anniversary of the renewed Kachin conflict on June 9, the act invoked cheers and cries from the crowd.
Within hours video of the performance was shared widely online—and during the same period Pau Lu and Seng Nu Pan were charged under the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, with police arguing it was not permitted.
Aside from presenting the broken scales, the pair staged another act of defiance by declining to pay a 30,000-kyat fine.
Instead, they were sent to jail.
“To be arrested for a performance isn’t fair and my client did what he thought was necessary through words and action,” said Mar Khar.
The lawyer was unsure of his client’s chances with the latest complaint, saying “we can’t really rely on the courts to deliver justice, can we?”
“Pau Lu thinks it’s unfair as well,” he added. “In Myanmar, the law bars freedom of speech. The courts have strings attached and are not autonomous. The judicial system is a mess.”
Youth activists have held several protests against the conflict and aid blockages in Kachin state, where the Kachin Independence Army has fought the Myanmar military for federal rights and political autonomy for decades.
Civilians bore the brunt of a 17-year ceasefire breakdown in 2011, with hundreds being killed and more than 100,000 displaced in the on-going conflict.
