Irrawaddy-June 15
Myanmar’s military regime has detained more than 40 anti-regime protesters and their relatives in Yangon since Sunday. Some were detained when junta troops checked houses for overnight guests, while others were detained after the regime arrested the driver of a taxi taken by anti-coup protesters, according to a member of the Yangon Strike Committee. “Some 40 have been detained. It is partly because the taxi driver who took the protesters was arrested and partly because military intelligence has stepped up its operations,” said a member of the strike committee. Detainees are reportedly being held in township police stations, but some have been sent straight to interrogation centers. Most of the detainees are from Kyimyindaing, Sanchaung, Tamwe and Yankin townships in Yangon, according to another member of the strike committee who is in hiding. Regime forces did not use guns in the arrests, but protesters were beaten as they were detained, he added.
A member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) said: “More than 30 were detained on June 13 alone. The number might be over 40 as more people were detained on June 14. The regime tracks them down through the accounts they use to donate money [to resistance groups], as well as through the drivers of the taxis they hail. We are still investigating how the regime can track them down. And we are still identifying the detainees.” Anti-coup protesters in Yangon face an increased risk of getting arrested, said another ABFSU member. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-detains-over-40-protesters-in-yangon.html
