Dumpling vendor turned anti-dictatorship protester shot and killed by regime troops in Mandalay Region

Tin Moe was shot in the leg and then the back as he tried to evade the armed forces in Kyaukpadaung township, an eyewitness says

Published on Apr 9, 2021
A gold-coloured mask similar to the one Tin Moe wore at a demonstration is laid out in a memorial to the slain protester (Supplied)
A gold-coloured mask similar to the one Tin Moe wore at a demonstration is laid out in a memorial to the slain protester (Supplied)

The junta’s armed forces shot and killed a well-known local protester as he tried to escape from troops in San Pya ward in Mandalay Region’s Kyaukpadaung township on Thursday morning, eyewitnesses said. 

The victim was identified by locals as Tin Moe, a seller of steamed bao buns and dumplings who had been active in the anti-dictatorship protests in the Kyaukpadaung area. He was in his 50s. 

He was shot at least twice as soldiers and police entered the ward at 11:30am on April 8, residents said. 

“They shot him in the calf first, then they shot him again as he was running and hit him in the back,” a witness told Myanmar Now.

 

 

Soldiers carried Tin Moe’s body to a military truck and took it with them, according to eyewitnesses.

His relatives in the ward could only confirm he had been killed when they were notified by the regime authorities to come to the local crematorium that evening because his body was being cremated. 

 

 

After Tin Moe’s home was raided by the regime’s armed forces, he went into hiding in San Pya ward, where was killed on Thursday. 

Two protesters were also killed in Kyaukpadaung on March 27, a day of intensified and brutal crackdowns that saw more than 100 civilians murdered by the junta’s troops nationwide. 

Like Tin Moe, the bodies of those two individuals were also seized by soldiers and cremated without their families’ permission. 

According to the advocacy group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), at least 624 people have been killed by the coup regime as of April 8.

 

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.

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

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.

 

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.

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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’ 

Published on Apr 26, 2021
 Caption- A protester holds a placard demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi during an anti-coup rally in Yangon on February 15 (Myanmar Now)

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.

 

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.

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The Australian’s routine at the prison includes morning exercise and watching the news on TV, the activist said  

Published on Apr 26, 2021
Turnell has been charged under the Official Secrets Act, which carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years  

Aung San Suu Kyi’s economic advisor Sean Turnell is being detained at Insein Prison in Yangon and seems to be in good health, a recently freed student activist told Myanmar Now.

The Australian was detained days after the February 1 coup and the junta did not reveal his whereabouts. He was initially kept at a hotel in Yangon and then taken into police custody.

It was previously unclear if he was in prison, at an interrogation center, or somewhere else. But Zayar Lwin, a student activist who was released in an amnesty on April 17, said he met with Turnell multiple times at Insein. 

“We mostly talked about the economy,” said the activist, who is a former chairman of the Yangon University of Economics Students’ Union. Turnell told the activist he had not expected the coup to happen.

The economist was transferred to Insein after being interrogated for about two weeks by the coup regime’s officials in Yangon, he added. 

Turnell, Suu Kyi, and three of her cabinet members were charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act in late March, Reuters reported. The law carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

ABC News reported in early March that Turnell had spoken by phone to his wife, Ha Vu, and the Australian embassy in Yangon shortly after he was detained.

The report said he had been fed well and had his own room with bedding, a mosquito net, and his belongings, including his medication.

Zayar Lwin was sentenced to six and a half years in prison in 2019 for performing as part of a satirical troupe that made fun of the military.  

Although Turnell was staying in a different part of the prison, Zayar Lwin was able to go and speak with him every day for about a month until his release. 

Turnell’s daily routine in the prison includes morning exercise, watching TV news in English, and reading, Zayar Lwin said. 

The activist met with nine others who were detained on or shortly after February 1. 

They included ousted cabinet members Aung Ko, Kyaw Win, Soe Win, and Set Aung.

He also met with Mya Aye, a veteran of the 1988 uprising, as well as activist Min Thway Thit, writer Maung Tha Cho, the actor Lu Min, and Nathan Maung, the editor-in-chief of Kamayut Media.

Unlike others, those detainees were not allowed to watch television or to have a fan in their cells, Zayar Lwin added.

They may be suffering from distress due to their ordeals at an interrogation centre before being transferred to the prison, he said. 

He also saw Nilar Kyaw, the Yangon regional transport minister; Moe Moe Suu Kyi, the regional immigration minister, and Than Myint Aung, a Yangon municipal committee member, who were kept at the building for female inmates.

“We were able to wave our hands at each other and shouted greetings,” he said.

The day before he and other activists were released, other political prisoners told them not to get arrested again and to fight against the military until the people win, he added. 

“They told us to win the battle because they can no longer join the fight.” 

 

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.

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