Another NLD Member Dies While Detained by Myanmar Junta Forces

By The Irrawaddy 9 March 2021

Another National League for Democracy (NLD) member has died while under detention by Myanmar’s military regime.

Ko Zaw Myat Lin, who was in charge of Suu Vocational Institute in Shwe Pyi Thar Township of Yangon region, was arrested by security officers during a raid on the institute late Monday night.

His family was informed of his death Tuesday afternoon by township police when they asked his wife to identify his body at Mingaladon military hospital.

During the raid at vocational institute, three students and three local residents were arrested. Computers, vehicles, phones and money at the school were confiscated, according to Ko Min Wai, a teacher volunteering at the school. The school has offered free training courses on computers, language, and mechanics to young people in Shwe Pyi Thar.

Ko Min Wai said that, according to the deceased’s wife, Ko Zaw Myat Lin suffered a large wound to the abdomen. The military claimed Ko Zaw Myat Lin was injured by a pointed object when he climbed over a fence while attempting to escape arrest.

“It is not possible,” Ko Min Wai said. “I can’t bear this. How could they do this to an unarmed civilian? Even I was in tears after I heard of this shocking death.”

The military declined to hand over the body and asked the family to come back on Wednesday morning for the funeral, he said.

Ko Zaw Myat Lin leaves behind his wife and a son.

On Sunday, U Khin Maung Latt, a NLD ward chairman in Pabedan Township, Yangon, reportedly died after being tortured, hours after he was taken from his home by soldiers and police.

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