Dozens of youths arrested for alleged anti-regime links

By DMG 13 Dec 2021

DMG Newsroom
13 December 2021, Yangon 

Myanmar’s military junta forcibly arrested youths from townships in Yangon, Bago, Mandalay and Magway regions, and Mon State, in the first week of December. 

The regime arrested several people under the pretext of checking overnight visitors in the Yangon Region townships of North Okkalapa, Hlaing, Hlaingthayar and Htantabin at around 11:30 p.m. on December 12. Soldiers forced residents of neighbourhoods and dormitories out of the area at gunpoint, searching rooms and mobile phones, and arresting most of the young men, according to locals. 

A resident of North Okkalapa Township told DMG that most of the young men were abducted by military personnel and threatened at gunpoint.  

“Members of the military council are forcing young men in the area to kneel down and investigate. They kept shouting that people in the houses and rooms would be shot if they did not go out,” the local added. 

Six junta soldiers were killed and several others wounded in an attack by local militias in the Anawrahta Industrial Zone of Hlaingthayar Township in the early hours of December 12. 

Following the attack, junta soldiers raided Dagon Ayar Highway Bus Terminal and nearby wards, opening fire and arresting at least 30 youths, a resident of Hlaingthayar said. 

“Around 50 soldiers and police cordoned off the lanes in the ward and took about 30 youths from their home on the night of December 12,” the resident said. 

Bomb attacks by the Bago Township People’s Defence Force killed at least 30 Burmese soldiers and police, and injured more than 50 others in November and early December. 

Junta soldiers and police examined the mobile phones of passersby at many locations and toll gates in Bago at about 8:30 a.m. on December 13, according to a local. 

“Soldiers checked the mobile phones of passersby. Soldiers arrested and prosecuted those who posted profiles of the National Unity Government [NUG] and CRPH [Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw] and PDF on Facebook,” the resident added. 

At least three people were arrested after a junta soldier was killed when a military truck was attacked with a bomb in Gangaw, Magway Region, at about 5 p.m. on December 12. 

Regime forces also stormed wards in Mon State’s Mawlamyine, Ye, Thanbyuzayet, Paung and Thaton townships, and arrested some youths after a series of bomb blasts, locals said. 

At least 10 youths including a person with mental illness near Thanlwin Bridge in Paung Township were arrested on suspicion of having ties to anti-regime groups. A resident of Mottama said that a 40-year-old woman was knocked unconscious by a gunshot wound. 

“Junta soldiers beat and arrested youths on suspicion of having connections with the PDFs. They also confiscated seven Thai-made motorbikes, K20 million and two laptops. A woman was knocked unconscious by a gunshot wound for allegedly accepting the youths to hide in her home,” the resident said. 

Military council members in a civilian vehicle arrested Hsan Lin Htet, a 21-year-old man who was riding a motorbike, in front of a high school in Mawlamyine at around 6 p.m. on December 12. 

A bomb blast by the Mon-Thaton People’s Defence Force killed at least six soldiers and at least 20 locals were arrested. 

At least 7,954 people were detained between February 1 and December 11, of which 385 were sentenced to prison time and 35 have been sentenced to death — including two minors — according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). 

The AAPP said its figures included a total of 118 people had been sentenced to death either in person or in absentia, and 1,954 people who were considered fugitives of the law under the military regime.