More arrests in weapons exposé case

Myanmar authorities have continued to make arrests and conduct extensive investigations into the news coverage of an alleged secret weapons factory in Pauk township by Unity Journal.

Lwin Lwin Myint, the wife of detained Unity Journal reporter Lu Maw Naing, was detained on Monday afternoon at Pakokku Prison before being released on Tuesday night and allowed her to see her husband, who is being held at the same facility.

Meanwhile, Aung Win Tun, a nephew of the detained Unity Journal CEO Tin Hsan, was interrogated Wednesday morning, according to Tin Hsan’s spokesperson Thiha Aung.

The latest detentions follow the arrest on Saturday of four reporters and Tin Hsan in connection with a report about an alleged secret chemical weapons factory in Pauk township, Magway region, on January 23.

 

No plant, says government

The government has denied the existence of the plant. The arrests have been condemned by local and international media groups.

“I asked for permission [on Monday] to see my husband at the prison. I still didn’t get to see him even after 12 noon. Later, the police arrived and told me to go with them to see Lu Maw Naing, so I went with them. They took me to a police department at No (1) Ward in Buddha Hill and interrogated me. When I asked them who they were, they said they were the mobile police from Yangon,” said Lwin Lwin Myint.

 “They asked me about my childhood and my e-mail addresses and passwords. They also asked me the occupation of my family and whether I accompanied the reporters when they visited the factory. I replied that both Lu Maw Naing and I went with them in a car but we didn’t enter the factory or take photos. After the interrogation was over, I signed my name to confirm that my statements were true.”

Following her interrogation, Lwin Lwin Myint spent the night at the police department and was taken to a court the next morning to be given a one-week remand and was later taken to the prison.

“I asked them which case was I taking the remand for, but they said they don’t know and they were only following orders from a higher authority,” she said.

The prison warden told her she would be released on Tuesday evening and the police brought her back to her home in Pauk. However, she was asked to sign a pledge on the way home.

After her release, Lwin Lwin Myint was allowed to see her husband at Pakokku Prison yesterday.

“I saw Lu Maw Naing at Pakokku Prison after 2pm. His living condition in the prison was normal. He told me to ask the SB [Special Branch] to return the laptop and mobile phone they had confiscated from me and to submit a letter to the president about this incident,” she said.

“I want them to release Lu Maw Naing as soon as possible, because he’s innocent. Our philanthropic school has been facing difficulties because he has been detained. A security guard took notes during our entire conversation at the prison, while the police warden recorded it with a tape recorder.”

When Lwin Lwin Myint went to see her husband at the prison on Monday, she was accompanied by her 2-year-old daughter and Win Min Aung and Phoo Pwint Hlaing, who are both around the age of 16. All four were detained. Win Min Aung and Phoo Pwint Hlaing returned home on Tuesday afternoon while Lwin Lwin Myint and her daughter were released at night.

When asked on Monday night about the case, Pol Colonel Khin Htay from the Myanmar Police Force headquarters said that he did not know about it.

The spokesperson for detained Unity Journal CEO Tin Hsan, meanwhile, said the executive’s nephew Aung Win Tun was interrogated Wednesday morning. “[Wednesday] morning, he [Aung Win Tun] was drinking coffee with a friend at the teashop in front of Nay Kyar Tharyarkone Street in Pazaungtaung township, Yangon region. At the time, a person wearing civilian clothes appeared, told him that he would be investigated, and took him away,” said Thiha Aung.

“At present, we haven’t connected with him since [Wednesday] morning. We don’t know where he is being detained. Yesterday was our journal’s deadline for the closing day of printing. We are now facing a lot of difficulties, because he [Aung Win Tun] does the work for the printing house.”

The family members, including Aung Win Tun, had gone to the prison on Tuesday afternoon and met with Tin Hsan at Yangon’s Insein Prison.

 

Ongoing interrogation

Before his detention, Aung Win Tun spoke to Eleven Media about his uncle. He said Tin Hsan has been at Insein Prison since Saturday, in Building No 5, Cell No 2. He said interrogation procedures were being conducted according to the law by the authorities.

Theingi Tun, wife of detainee Yaza Oo, said that she and other family members had gone to Pakokku Prison to visit her husband.

“The security staff at the gate asked us what we would be doing there. We were then told that we needed documentation, according to the procedure, to meet him. 

“I had to fill in some forms although my husband is only a suspect who is being questioned. I had to meet him separately. There was a sheet of glass between us and we spoke to each other by phone,” said Theingi Tun.

She also said that a policeman stood beside her husband another policeman stood beside her during their meeting. 

Moreover, their conversation was recorded, she added.

“My husband is like a real prisoner, despite being merely a detainee. But there was no torture. My husband said he was served three meals a day. He said all the four detainees, including him, are kept apart from each other,” said Theingi Tun. 

Pol Lt-Colonel Kyaw Kyaw Han from Special Branch (Yangon) said Wednesday that the Unity Journal employees are being interrogated and their cases would be brought to court.