Three NLD Lawmakers Among Nine People Detained in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady
By The Irrawaddy 2 April 2021
PATHEIN—Nine individuals including deposed parliamentarians of the National League for Democracy (NLD) who had been on the run from the military regime were captured by junta forces at gunpoint on Wednesday.
They were found while hiding in Shwe Myin Tin Village-tract in Pathein, the capital of Ayeyarwady Region. Among them are three deposed NLD MPs, five NLD members and a striking police officer.
Police have reportedly charged the nine under the sedition law.
“Soldiers and police came in six vehicles. They fired around 10 shots and arrested three lawmakers and others who were hiding in a farmyard in Ywar Thar Yar Village,” said a Shwe Myin Tin resident.
The detained lawmakers are Lower House member U Thein Tun of Thabaung Township, and two Ayeyarwady regional parliament members: U Aung Aung Oo and U Than Htut, representing Thabaung and Pathein respectively.
A source close to U Than Htut said: “All nine are being held at [the Myanmar military’s] South-Western Command. All three lawmakers were reportedly beaten in interrogation. Lawyers and relatives have not yet been allowed to meet them.”
Ayeyarwady Region Chief Minister U Hla Moe Aung and ministers of the elected regional government have been in detention since the Feb. 1 coup.
Since Feb. 11, the military regime has detained and filed lawsuits under various charges against at least 35 individuals in Pathein including political activists, human rights activists, lawmakers, a reporter and anti-regime protesters.
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