Myanmar Military Regime has Detained Nearly 500 People Since Coup

By The Irrawaddy 18 February 2021

Myanmar’s military had detained nearly 500 individuals by Wednesday since its coup on Feb. 1.

Detainees included elected lawmakers and members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), election commissioners, anti-coup protesters and civil servants involved in the civil disobedience movement.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), which monitors detentions, said 495 individuals had been detained, charged or sentenced by Feb. 17. Of them, two people have been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and one detainee to three months behind bars.

Only 35 of the detainees have been released and 460 are still being detained, the AAPP said.

This week, six protesters and two students in Rakhine State, six protesters and one student in Mandalay Region, four students in Shan State; three protesters in Ayeyarwady Region, three high-school pupils in Naypyitaw and a protester each in Magwe and Bago regions were detained.

The deputy director-general of the Ministry of Social Welfare in Naypyitaw, a supervisor at a Myanma Railways locomotives factory in Yangon Region and a primary school headteacher in Ayeyarwady Region were also arrested this week for involvement in the civil disobedience movement.

Arrest warrants were issued against 17 elected lawmakers this week. They have gone into hiding.

Leaders of the 1988 uprising, U Min Ko Naing, U Kyaw Min Yu, also known as Ko Jimmy, are also in hiding.

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint are among those being detained. More than 120 NLD members have been arrested.

The NLD won a landslide in November’s election, with 396 seats or 83 percent out of the 476 contested seats in the Union Parliament.

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