Arrests, investigations continue into weapons factory news coverage

Arrests, investigations continue into weapons factory news coverage

Published on Wednesday, 05 February 2014 14:52

The authorities have continued to make arrests and conduct extensive investigations into the news coverage of Pauk Township's secret weapons factory by Unity Journal.

Lwin Lwin Myint, the wife of Unity Journal reporter Lu Maw Naing who is being detained in Pakokku prison, and her two-year daughter went missing on Monday afternoon after meeting with her detained husband. There was no sign of them as of last night, but now other family members say the two have been detained by the authorities.

However, Police Col. Khin Htay from the Myanmar Police Force headquarters said last night that he did not know about their case.

Win Min Aung and Phu Pwint Hlaing, accompanied by Lwin Lwin Myint, were detained on Monday and arrived back in Pauk Township last night.

They said that they were forced to sign an agreement not to discuss their experience with anyone. 

"Lwin Lwin Myint is not detained in Pakokko prison, and nobody sent them here," the jailer told an EMG reporter who inquired about concerns that the reporter's wife and daughter were being detained in Pakokku prison.

Yesterday afternoon, EMG also called the police station in Pauk Township to inquire about the missing reporter's wife. An officer from Pauk station replied that no one had yet opened a case about Lwin Lwin Myint and they [police] didn't know about related cases.

"On Monday afternoon, while Lwin Lwin Myint was meeting with her husband at the prison, Lwin Lwin Myint's house was being searched by 15 official members and a laptop was grabbed," said one of Lwin Lwin Myint's family members.

"Yesterday, Ma Lwin Lwin Myint called me around noon. She told me she was in front of Pakokku Prison and that she would leave her mobile phone with two companions and see her husband in the prison. That was my last contact with her," said Aung Kyaw Kyaw, Lwin Lwin Myint's brother.

"I have not been able to contact her since then. I learned that the authorities have detained her two companions. I made contact with one of them, Phoo Pwint Hlaing, and was told that they were released on Tuesday morning. The authorities told them that they would release Ma Lwin Lwin Myint soon and not to worry about her. It's been over 24 hours since she was detained. I don't know why she was detained. I want the authorities to handle this in accordance with the law."

When Eleven Media contacted Pakokku District Police Force, the officer-in-charge said he did not know anything about Lwin Lwin Myint. 

According to one of her companions, who was released on Tuesday, Lwin Lwin Myint and her two companions were taken to a military camp in Pakokku and the district information unit interrogated them.

The detained CEO Tin San and three reporters were allowed to meet with their families yesterday at Insein Prison. Tin San's sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and Thiha Aung, his spokesperson, met with him for two hours yesterday.

"We only learned that he is at Insein Prison at 9:30 last night," said Tin San's nephew, Aung Win Tun, adding that his uncle has been at Insein since Saturday, in Building No. 5, Cell No. 2. He said the interrogation procedures are being treated as the law by the authorities.

Theingi Tun, wife of detainee Yaza Oo, said that she and other family members had gone to the prison this morning 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. 

Police Lieutenant Colonel Kyaw Kyaw Han from Special Branch (Yangon) said yesterday that the Unity Journal's CEO and three reporters are being interrogated and their case would be brought to court.

http://www.information.myanmaronlinecentre.com/arrests-investigations-continue-into-weapons-factory-news-coverage/