Comedian Zarganar arrested by junta

The 60-year-old performer, filmmaker and former political prisoner is again arrested by a Myanmar military regime

Published on Apr 6, 2021

Zarganar gives a speech at the Art of Freedom Film Festival in Yangon on January 1, 2012 (Htoo Tay Zar)

Maung Thura– widely known by his performance name, Zarganar– was arrested by the junta on Tuesday morning, according to a source close to his family.

The 60-year-old comedian, actor and film director is a former political prisoner and a well-known critic of Myanmar’s past military governments. He was jailed multiple times after the 1988 popular uprising for his political activism, which he carried out through comedy and other performance platforms.

Details of Zarganar’s arrest were still unknown at the time of reporting and the military’s spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

After his initial release from prison in 1994, Zarganar was barred from engaging in any public performances, and banned from disseminating his writing.

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He was arrested and detained again in 2007 for supporting striking monks during Myanmar’s Saffron Revolution, and again in 2008 for aiding those affected by Cyclone Nargis. That same year, he was handed a 59-year prison sentence after being convicted of multiple charges for his work, according to PEN America, which classified him as a “Writer at Risk.”

Zarganar was finally released in 2011 under an amnesty with several other political prisoners after Thein Sein’s government took office.

Also a film director, Zarganar was once involved in the making of the biographical film about Myanmar independence icon General Aung San.

Since his release in 2011, he has made filmmaking a primary focus. Zarganar co-organized the Art of Freedom Festival in 2012 with film director Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, who has been detained by the junta since the early morning of the military coup on February 1.

Zarganar criticized the coup on his Facebook page after the military seized power from the elected civilian government led by the National League for Democracy’s Aung San Suu Kyi.

The military regime has also issued arrest warrants for several filmmakers, actors, celebrities, influencers and journalists for speaking out against the coup and supporting the Civil Disobedience Movement. The movement aims to topple the junta headed by military chief Min Aung Hlaing.

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Mandalay man dies after being shot in the back by regime troops

Soldiers occupied a local high school where the man lived in Maha Aungmyay Township’s Sein Pann ward, carrying out nightly raids and arrests in the area

Myanmar Now

Published on Apr 27, 2021

Caption: The body of street vendor Zaw Shein was taken to his home on Monday night (Supplied)

A local street vendor was killed by indiscriminate gunfire from regime troops in Mandalay’s Maha Aungmyay Township on Monday, an eyewitness told Myanmar Now.

Soldiers occupying a high school in Sein Pann ward opened fire in the area at around 7pm. Street vendor Zaw Shein was shot in the back with live ammunition when he went outside to see what was happening, according to the eyewitness.

Zaw Shein was in his 40s and sold fried rice. A volunteer rescue worker who helped bring him for treatment at a local clinic said he was pronounced dead soon after arrival.

“His condition was very critical even when he arrived. He’s now dead,” the rescue worker told Myanmar Now on Monday night.

The troops stationed at the high school have been carrying out nightly raids and arrests in Sein Pann ward, residents said.

The eyewitness to Zaw Shein’s shooting, also a resident of Sein Pann, said that the gunfire continued until around 8:30pm on Monday night.

Earlier that day, two people who were honking the horns of their motorbikes were shot by the troops. One was reportedly wounded in the leg, and the other in the arm.

“The one who was wounded in the leg was arrested with the injury. The other one who was injured in the arm, managed to flee,” an eyewitness to the shooting told Myanmar Now.

Soldiers also shot a 14-year-old girl in the hand when they opened fire in Chanmyatharzi Township on April 21. A monk was also shot in the back with rubber bullets after troops raided a monastery in Maha Aungmyay Township on the same night.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an advocacy group that has been monitoring the junta’s violence, at least 753 civilians have been killed by the regime’s troops nationwide since the February 1 coup.

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Army major shoots captain in Meiktila, in latest instance of regime forces turning on each other

Two soldiers and one policeman were killed in three separate incidents over the weekend

Myanmar Now

Published on Apr 26, 2021

Caption: Captain Kaung Myat Thwin of Meikhila-based LID 99, seen here in plain clothes, was shot by a fellow army officer on April 25

An army captain is in hospital after being shot by a fellow officer in the Mandalay Region town of Meiktila on Sunday, according to local residents.

Major Wunna Htay of the army’s Meiktila-based Battalion 315 is currently in custody for shooting Captain Kaung Myat Thwin of Light Infantry Battalion 99, which is also based in Meiktila, sources told Myanmar Now.

The incident, which occurred in downtown Meiktila near the town’s police station 2, appeared to stem from an alcohol-fuelled dispute between the two men.

“Captain Kaung Myat Thwin is notorious here. He recently shot and killed a doctor in Wundwin,” said a local resident, referring to a town located about 30km northeast of Meiktila.

“He is also the one who arrested the chairperson of the Meiktila District Election Commission,” the local resident added.

It was unclear what started the dispute, but the incident has raised security concerns in the town, which is regarded as an army stronghold due to the large number of troops stationed there.

Meanwhile, there were at least two other clashes over the weekend involving regime forces who had turned on each other.

On Friday, a shootout between police and soldiers occurred in the Chin State capital of Hakha. Two soldiers were killed and a number of police were injured in the exchange of fire, local media reported.

In the Kayin State town of Kawkareik, a dispute on Sunday between a soldier and a policeman ended with both men shooting each other.

According to a report by DVB, the police officer died and the soldier was seriously injured in the shootout.

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Judge tells Suu Kyi to ‘wait patiently’ for in-person meeting with her lawyers

The junta said over the weekend that it feared protesters would use a meeting between the ousted leader and her lawyers to ‘conduct illegal communications’

Myanmar Now

Published on Apr 26, 2021

Detained State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi once again called for an in-person meeting with her lawyers during a hearing held via video link at a court in Naypyitaw on Monday, her lawyer said.

The judge at the Zabuthiri court asked a police official during the hearing about arrangements for a meeting but the official was unable to respond, said Khin Maung Zaw, a member of Suu Kyi’s defence team.

“He said the police force had submitted the request to the ‘upper level’ but is yet to receive an order,” he told reporters after the hearing. “The judge asked which level was reviewing the request and what the situation was but the official responded that he couldn’t answer.”

“The judge suggested the lawyers and their clients wait for the order patiently,” he added.

Suu Kyi faces a total of six charges; five in Naypyitaw and one in Yangon, and a prison sentence of up to 26 years.

She has been accused of importing walkie-talkies in violation of the Export and Import Law, of incitement, and of violating the Official Secrets Act and the Telecommunication Law.

The regime also hit both Suu Kyi and detained President Win Myint with a charge of violating Covid-19 protocols while campaigning in last year’s election.

At Monday’s hearing, cases for Win Myint and detained Naypyitaw mayor Myo Aung, who has been charged with incitement, were also heard. Both men have also been denied in-person meetings with their lawyers.

Suu Kyi seemed to be in good health but looked thinner than she used to be, Khin Maung Zaw said. The next hearing is scheduled for May 10.

The military council’s spokesperson, Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, was quoted by the Russian state-owned news agency RIA over the weekend saying the junta had decided not to allow Suu Kyi to meet her lawyers in person for the time being.

The main reasons, Zaw Min Tun said, were national security and the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said the military had received information that some protest leaders have plans to contact Suu Kyi through her lawyers.

“Behind her lawyers’ demand there could be other reasons. They might conduct illegal communications and ask for her direction [for the protests],” Zaw Min Tun said in the interview.