A senior monk in the ruby-mining centre of Mogok in Mandalay region was arrested on Thursday evening and is now being held in the town’s prison, according to local sources.
Yaypu Sayadaw was arrested outside of the Myat Saydanar Social Work Association in Mogok, where a number of protesters were hiding as they fled a crackdown by security forces.
A video of the arrest shows about 30 soldiers raiding the office and shooting rubber bullets at protesters who attempted to flee. According to workers at a local clinic, four people were injured in the assault.
Sources in Mogok told Myanmar Now that Yaypu Sayadaw was forced to disrobe and is now facing charges of incitement under section 505b of the Penal Code.
Ko Soe, a local activist, said that the charges were laid by the town’s chief of police and that the monk had been denied access to a lawyer.
If he is found guilty, he could face up to two years in prison.
Around 40 people, including Saypu Sayadaw and two other monks, were taken into custody in Mogok on Thursday as security forces moved to end massive protests in the town.
The two other monks and around half of those arrested have since been released, local sources said.
Most of the arrests were made in the afternoon, when protesters gathered again after an earlier demonstration was broken up by soldiers using tear gas and stun grenades. Six people were arrested in that crackdown.
During the second round of arrests, security forces also used rubber bullets, the demonstrators said.
Some of those apprehended were bystanders.
“I was not taking part in the protest. I was just standing on the side of the street, shouting to the young protesters to run as the police arrived,” said Yin May, a local woman who was among those taken into custody and later released.
“One policeman was about to hit me with the butt of his gun when another one stopped him. That’s why I wasn’t hit,” she added.
Lawyers in Mogok said they were trying to make a list of names of those still being held in detention.
Despite the shootings and arrests, thousands of protesters returned to the streets of Mogok again on Friday to demand an end to military rule.
