JURIST EXCLUSIVE – Law students reporting for JURIST in Myanmar said Sunday that the death toll from Friday’s military and police crackdown in the city of Bago had risen to 82 and that it could still go higher. Information, pictures and video have been hard to get from the city roughly 50 miles northeast of Yangon due to reported cable cuts that disrupted internet communication from the area. Myanmar junta forces reportedly used heavy weapons, including RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) against sandbagged protesters, promoting the UN Mission in  Myanmar to use a formal statement of concern on Twitter Saturday. On Sunday Dr. Sasa, the Special Envoy of the CRPH civilian authority to the UN, called the Bago crackdown a “massacre” and said more military  massacres of unarmed civilians could occur if the international community did not assist the people of Myanmar.

Also on Saturday, Myanmar state TV announced that criminal charges have been laid against Mandalay University law professor Su Yin Htun for alleged breach of section 505 (a) of the Myanmar Penal Code, prohibiting incitement to breach law and order. One of our Mandalay-based law students responded to the news of her arrest:

Our law professor Dr. Su Yin Htun is issued with an arrest warrant. Her name, photo and facebook account is announced on MRTV this evening. She is charged with section 505(a). She actively participates in protesting on streets, sharing legal analysis and news on social medias and persuade and support CDM. She is a very brave and admirable professor. Now, she has to flee away. Our professor does not deserve to be on that arrest warrant list.

The present whereabouts of Su Yin Htun are unknown, but so far she has not been arrested. Earlier in the week, Myanmar authorities announced the suspension of 20 law teachers at the University of Yangon who were supporting the Civil Disobedience Movement.  Three other were originally on thr suspension list were reinstated after they withdrew their CDM support.