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The Second arrest
On March 12, 1995, the funeral ceremony of former Prime Minister,
U Nu, was held in Rangoon during which a number of students staged
a demonstration. The same evening at around 1:30 am, I was driving
home with a friend after doing a shift driving my taxi when I was
stopped by a man near my home. He asked if I had a driver's license
and I replied that I did. He then asked for my name and where I
lived. I pointed out my home which wasn't far, and asked what was
going on. The man replied that he worked for Special Branch and
that he had some questions to ask me. I told him that I wanted to
ask my car home before going with them. My home was about 150 yards
from the road, and nobody could see what was going on.
I got out of the car and there were five plain-clothed officers,
including a district Law and Order Restoration Council (LORC) official.
They told me that my car would be returned to my home and that I
was to follow them immediately. I argued briefly with them, but
in the end I was forced to give my car keys to the LORC officers.
My friend and I were handcuffed together in the back of the pick-up.
I asked if I was being arrested but they just told me to shut up.
They refused to answer any of my questions. When the car started
to leave, my brother came out of our house to see what was happening
and I told him not to worry, but to take care of the house while
I was gone.
We were ordered to lie down in the back of the truck and to deep
silent. At times I looked out of the car and realised that we were
heading in the direction of Kaba Aye Pagoda. The pick-up then turned
in the direction of Kyay Wai Pagoda and we were taken to Aung Thapyei
Police Station, the headquarters of Special Branch. We were led
into a large office in which there were two or three tables and
six chairs. I was separated from my friend and ordered to sit in
front of one of the tables and was handcuffed to a chair.
They started the interrogation by handing me a form to fill out
regarding my personal details. They then asked various questions
pertaining to U Nu's funeral. I replied that my friend was not involved
in the ceremony or the demonstration and requested that they release
him. They didn't reply, but instead asked further questions. It
became clear that they suspected me of organising people to demonstrate
at the funeral. I replied that my friend was not involved in the
ceremony or the demonstration and requested that they release him.
They didn't reply, but instead asked further questions. It became
clear that they suspected me of organising people to demonstrate
at the funeral. They said that even if I didn't organise the protest,
I must know the leaders of the demonstration and which organisations
were involved. I replied that I didn't know who was involved in
orgainsing the demonstration and that I attended the ceremony because
U Nu had been a prominent figure in Burmese politics for a long
time, even up until his death, and that he had been a good man.
They interrogated me for about an hour. Later, they gave me another
chair and I was told to sleep on the two chairs while I was still
handcuffed. I even had to wear the handcuffs when I went to the
toilet. In the morning I was given mohingha noodles of breakfast,
and fried rice for lunch which I ate while handcuffed.
At around 5pm in the afternoon I was put in a car with another young
man and a young woman and we were taken to the jail at Mayangone
Police Station where we slept the night. Later, I found out that
the young man was Htun Myint Aung from the All Burma Federation
of Student Unions (ABFSU), and the woman was Kyi Myint Tai from
the Insein District underground movement. The next morning saw Lwin
Oo from the Rangoon Institute of Technology Students' Union was
also p8ut in our cell and that afternoon we were transferred to
the jail at Hlaing Police Station.
Later, myself along with Maung Maung Kyaw, Ko Hla Htay (a.k.a.Kya
Gyi), from Kandaw Lay, Ko Thar Gyi (a.k.a. Thaw Htun Oo) from Kamaryut
and the woman from Insein, were all transferred to Insein Prison
where we were placed in Room 22, Ward 5. The following morning we
were transferred to Ward 2 and we slept the night there. We were
treated as though we were criminals.
The following morning we were again transferred, this time to an
isolated group of cells and all our privileges were suspended. Every
two days we were given a full body search to find out if we had
any connection with the outside movement. We were only allowed to
bathe and use the toilet for 15 minutes each day, during which time
the lights were turned off and the doors were closed so nobody could
see us from the outside. During my period of incarceration we were
fed peas with rice in the morning, and in the evening we got vegetables
and rice mixed together with leftovers from other meals.
After eight days we were interrogated again. We were questioned
one at a time by the same people and at no time were we asked about
our well being. When we complained about our treatment we were simply
ignored. They continued to ask questions about who organised the
U Nu funeral demonstration. I told them that perhaps there was no
one person or organisation responsible for organising the demonstration,
and that may be the protest occurred because people felt strongly
at the time.
They asked me if I would continue to involve myself in politics.
I answered that as sure as they were sitting at the table and I
was sitting in the chair in the middle of the prison, I would continue
to concern myself with political issues. I further stated that if
they released us we would continue to involve ourselves in political
affairs, even though it is difficult for us to organise ourselves
outside. We were each interrogated for about 45 minutes and then
sent back to our cells.
Forty days later I was released from Insein, and I returned home.
During my detention I was never brought before a court or a jury,
handed an official sentence, or allowed to speak on my own behalf.
Following my release, I was watched closely for a long time.
Endnotes
1 This order was a selected amnesty in 1992 in which a number of
political prisoners were released under the condition that they
no longer involve themselves in politics.
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