The fate of five relatives of a pro-democracy broadcaster, including his ailing parents, who were taken hostage in Monywa, Sagaing Region, remains unknown since they were seized last month.
Ko Aung Nay Myo told The Irrawaddy that his parents in their 70s were detained along with his two sisters and a niece on December 18 and have not been heard from since.
He said they were taken hostage as he has been in hiding to avoid sedition charges for his anti-regime activism since the coup.
Ko Aung Nay Myo hosts a People’s Voice TV show program, broadcast by the parallel National Unity Government, that satirizes coup leader Min Aung Hlaing.
He said his 75-year-old father had suffered a stroke while his mother, 73, has high blood pressure and diabetes.
“I have no idea why they arrested my father, who has been suffering from a stroke and could not harm them. I think they arrested them while I was on air with NUG TV,” Ko Aung Nay Myo said.
“I am worried, especially if they do not get their medicines. It is inhumane to arrest a 75-year-old suffering from a stroke who cannot even use the toilet by himself,” he added.
The junta has arrested the relatives of resistance fighters, National League for Democracy members and political activists as hostages when they could not find the suspect.
In November, the mother of an anti-regime activist in Dawei, Tanintharyi Region, was taken hostage when soldiers could not find her son.
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