One of the original members of a pro-democracy movement long persecuted by the military was critically injured as he was arrested by junta security forces, his family said last night.
Imprisoned many years for campaigning against military rule, Kyaw Min Yu, aka Ko Jimmy, was badly hurt during his arrest at home in Yangon’s North Dagon Township, his wife announced.
“Jimmy was critically hurt during his capture and is being treated at Mingaladon Military Hospital,” Nilar Thein wrote of her husband’s Saturday arrest.
A pro-military outlet said he was arrested in connection with a recent shootout that took place in Yangon’s North Dagon. Nilar Thein, who also spent four years in prison for campaigning as a member of the 88 Generation Students Group, said her husband was arrested at home in Yangon’s North Dagon township by security forces.
She expressed concern for 52-year-old Jimmy, saying they did not know his current condition and would hold coup leader Min Aung Hlaing responsible for anything that happened to him.
“Last night, we lost contact with him. Then we learned that he had been apprehended in North Dagon. We have no information about why he was detained or where he was taken,” Nila told reporters Sunday.
After the 1988 uprising, Jimmy was imprisoned for 15 years. He was jailed another five years in 2007 during the Saffron Revolution.
Junta security forces have been blamed with killing more than 1,100 people in their attempts to forcibly quash dissent to its February takeover.
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