- Title: Politicians, writers and an astrologer: Myanmar's new wave of detainees
- Date: 2nd March 2021
- Summary: YANGON, MYANMAR (RECENT - FEBRUARY 23, 2021) (VIDEO OBTAINED BY REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THAN MYINT AUNG'S GRANDDAUGHTER, KHAI WITTYEE HTET, SITTING ON STREET/ SHOWING PICTURES OF HERSELF AND HER GRANDMOTHER TO PROTESTER
- Embargoed: 16th March 2021 12:15
- Keywords: Myanmar Yangon astrologer coup democracy detain dictatorship military protest writer
- Location: YANGON, MYANMAR
- City: YANGON, MYANMAR
- Country: Myanmar
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest
- Reuters ID: LVA002E2E22PZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: In the early hours of Feb. 1, CCTV footage captured the moment security forces broke into the home of a writer and philanthropist well-known for her novels and short stories Than Myint Aung.
The 69-year-old, also famous for founding a charity that offers free funerals for the poor, was taken away in the dead of the night by armed men during a military coup, according to her family members.
In the footage, three white cars can be seen pulling up outside the house in the darkness of the leafy street. A stray dog watches as several armed soldiers walked towards the gate of the house where Than Myint Aung, who a day before had been one of the first people in Myanmar to get the COVID-19 vaccine, was asleep.
Her grandson, awaken and unable to sleep, goes downstairs and peers through the fence at the soldiers. The men tell him they have an appointment with his grandmother. He goes upstairs to fetch her and, seconds later, two soldiers climb over the fence into the compound. Five walk in. One of them throws a covering over the camera.
After that, according to the writer's granddaughter, Khaing Wittyee Htet, they broke the locks on the doors and cut the cables for the cameras. Khaing Wittyee Htet said it wasn't clear why her grandmother was arrested.
"They entered from the back yard, entered into our living room, and came to arrest my grandmother by force," the granddaughter told Reuters.
"They were saying they have something to discuss with the seniors, but did not mention what and where and how long it would be," she added.
As well as her writing - short stories and novels, mostly about the struggles of Myanmar's poor - and charitable work, Than Myint Aung was co-secretary of the Yangon City Development Committee and moved in political circles. She had met Aung San Suu Kyi.
The family doesn't know where she is being held or what she is being charged with. Only that, two days after her arrest, more soldiers came to the house to collect things she asked for. The list - written in her handwriting - included a new office suit.
Since Myanmar's military seized power in the coup on Feb. 1, overthrowing elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her government, security forces have detained hundreds of people across the country, many in nightly raids, reminiscence of the olden days of the junta that ruled the country for half a century until 2011.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), formed by formerly detained dissidents, said 728 people have been detained as of Feb. 25. As well as Suu Kyi and members of her cabinet, they include doctors and teachers, actors and singers, and other civilians who have taken part in demonstrations that have roiled the country almost daily since the coup.
In the days after the coup, police came for Hein Min Aung, a 25-year-old astrologer from a suburb of Yangon who had conducted a ritual praying for the fall of the new military junta.
"This military dictatorship might be afraid of the prayers done by Hein Min Aung because he has requested the citizens to pray to escape from this situation," said his boyfriend, Thit Thura Zen.
Many Myanmar people consult soothsayers and fortune-tellers, especially in times of crisis. Former dictators Ne Win and Than Shwe were said to have based key decisions on the advice of astrologers and numerologists.
Hein Min Aung ran his business mostly online. He made yearly predictions and advised people on how to avoid trouble.
An orphan from Pathein, in the Irrawaddy delta region, he came to Yangon as a teenager and studied engineering before dropping out of school to become an astrologist.
Since his arrest, there has been no news about where he is being detained. He has a weak heart and is dependent on oxygen tanks, Thit Thura Zen said.
"It has been more than ten days and I couldn't reach him or know how he is doing," he added.
Myanmar's government did not respond to requests for comments on the detentions. A spokesman for the prisons department could not be reached for comments.
(Production: Juarawee Kittisilpa, Jiraporn Kuhakan, Travis Teo) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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