Family Anxious Over Arrest of Ma Ni Ni May Myint

Taungup

Family members of Ma Ni Ni May Myint, a student from Taungup, are anxious about her well being since she was arrested by the military authority during a protest that was staged to commemorate the 20-year anniversary of the 8-8-88 uprisings in Burma, said one relative.

He said, "We are really worried about her arrest because she is young and she has never been involved in such an incident before."

Ma Ni Ni May Myint, aged about 20 years, was arrested by police in Taungup with another 47 youths during a protest on the anniversary of the 8-8-88 nationwide uprising.

Soon after their arrest, authorities sent the youth to the district town Thandwe in southern Arakan for interrogation.

After interrogations were conducted, authorities released 43 of the youths. Five of the youths, including Ma Ni Ni May Myint, who were leading the protest in Taungup, remain in detention.

"We have not had any contact with her since she was arrested. The concerned authority has not yet informed us of her arrest. So we do not know what has happened to her," the relative said.

According to a source, the authorities detained Ma Ni Ni May Myint at Thandwe prison along with Ko Moe Nay Soe and Ko Than Lwin, as well as two more unidentified youths from Net Maw Village, who were reported to have been leading the protest.

Family members want to know of Ma Ni Ni May Myint's condition after her arrest, but they are unable to ask the high authority about her.

"It is very difficult asking the authority about her arrest because the authority could misconstrue our intent and think that we also urged her to stage the demonstration. So we do not dare to ask the authority about her arrest," the relative said.

The arrest of Ma Ni Ni Myint and the other four students happened five days ago, but family members have yet to receive any kind of information about them. The families of all the arrested youths are concerned about their conditions in Thandwe prison.