Myanmar’s junta arrested three Mandalay civilians for allegedly funding resistance groups.
A Mandalay University of Distance Education academic and her husband, a retired ophthalmologist, and another civilian were accused of supporting the civilian National Unity Government (NUG).
Tatnaylin Eye Clinic in Aungmyaythazan Township was raided by soldiers and police on Wednesday, according to residents.
Daw Myint Myat Khaing, an associate professor who joined the civil disobedience movement (CDM), and her husband Dr Mya Than and another civilian, U Yan Naung Htun, were seized.
The junta sealed off the eye clinic and their homes, including an apartment in Aungmyaythazan Township.
The arrests were reported on pro-junta Telegram channels, saying that there was evidence on their phones that they had been funding resistance groups.
A resident said: “The family lives peacefully in the neighborhood. I was shocked about their arrest. The doctor is retired and the professor is a CDM participant and perhaps that’s why they were targeted.”
The junta has repeatedly raided private hospitals and clinics to root out striking doctors and nurses. Private hospitals have been sealed off and their owners detained for allegedly employing CDM doctors and nurses from the public sector.
In December Dr Win Khaing, a urologist at Nandaw Hospital, and two X-ray technicians from Myodaw Hospital were detained by the regime. It ordered the temporary closure of the most popular private hospitals in Mandalay, including Myodaw, Nandaw, Kantkaw, Htet Nay Lin and Sein Pin, by the end of the month.
Junta raids on Mandalay’s private hospitals and clinics restarted in May with numerous detentions.
In May, the junta’s heath ministry revoked the licenses of three hospitals in Mandalay — Myodaw, Nandaw and Kantkaw — for allegedly violating the Private Health Care Services Law.
On August 25, the junta ordered the private Mingalar Hospital to shut for three months, for allegedly employing two striking doctors.
The NUG’s health ministry said the junta had so far revoked the medical practitioner licenses of 557 doctors.
By late April, more than 800 healthcare staff had been detained by the junta with at least 71 dying in custody.
