A source close to the Karen State Chief Minister, Nan Khin Htwe Myint confirmed to Karen News that the Chief Minster was for the second time taken into custody from her state residence in Hpa-an earlier this week.
Following her arrest, all mobile phones belonging to ministers and staff were confiscated. Nan Khin Htwe Myint and other Karen State ministers and their associates have been unlawfully detained since the Burma military took power in a coup on the 1st of February.
The key reason for the military’s actions, according to the source, is to stop information from going in and out of the compound and between those who are trapped inside the compound. Access to food is restricted and physical communication such as visits is tightly controlled. Ministerial staff and their families are concerned for their safety.
The arrest of Nan Khin Htwe Myint and her ministers is part of a nation-wide crackdown on the NLD government by the military. Arrested NLD members and supporters taken by force and held in an unknown location.
Information circulated among NLD supporters speculates Nan Khin Htwe Myint is to be charged with three offences and she has been taken to Hpa-An’s Taungalay prison.
The well-known Karen reggae singer, Saw Poe Kwa, who uses music to advocate for peace in Burma, was also arrested.
Burma civilians, including those who are in Karen State, continue to show their opposition to the military coup by joining nationwide protests.
Today’s mass protest was in response to the brutal action of the military and police in Naypyidaw, Burma’s capital, yesterday, that resulted in a number of serious injuries. In attempts to control the mass protests, the military has attempted to control internet usage.
