The Judiciary Department of the Chin National Organisation (CNO) has handed down 11 sentences to people charged with various offences ranging from murder and rape to drug smuggling in Falam Township.
Salai Van Sui San, secretary of CNO Judiciary Department, said that a person convicted of raping a child was sentenced to 10 years with hard labour under Article 360 and another rapist convicted under Article 376 was sentenced to 8 years.
The ethnic armed group convicted three people of arson for setting houses on fire under Article 463 and gaoled them one year.
Another person charged with violence under Article 506 also received the same sentence.
Four people charged with theft and drug trafficking were released from jail after paying fines ranging from $240 to $1,700.
“They were ordered to pay a fine and sign a pledge paper. This means that if they commit another offence, they will be arrested and sent straight to prison,” he said.
“We give the accused the right to defend themselves in court during a trial,” with their own lawyer, he said, explaining that the person who raped the minor had ten court hearings before finally being convicted.
Salai Van Sui San said no one is exempt from the law, including soldiers of armed groups fighting against the military regime.
It is crucial to have a legal system in place to maintain the rule of law during the revolutionary period but he said they need more financial support to bring it from township to the state level.
The department was formed in October 2022.