Yangon sues Muslims for praying in the street

YANGON: Yangon authorities on Friday sued three Muslim men for holding Ramazan prayers in the street, after the local school where they used to worship was shut down by a nationalist mob.

Police brought the charges after around 50 Muslims gathered to pray on Wednesday on a road in Thaketa township, the site of one of a growing number of raids by Buddhist hardliners on Islamic events.

Two nearby Islamic schools were shuttered in late April after ultra-nationalists complained local Muslims were illegally using them to conduct prayers.

Authorities have said the closure is temporary, but given no timeline for when they may be reopened.

"We feel sorry. This month is important for us," local Muslim leader Zaw Min Latt told AFP, referring to the holy month of Ramazan which began last week.

"We used those schools for prayer for decades. These restrictions have been brought in after more than 60 years."

Local authorities issued a statement saying the prayer session threatened "stability and the rule of law" in the mainly Muslim neighbourhood in the east of Myanmar’s commercial capital.