At least 772 killed since Myanmar coup: Rights group

JAKARTA, Indonesia

Myanmar military forces have killed three more people, taking the death toll since protests began against the Feb. 1 military coup to 772, according to a local monitoring group.

The military detained 3,738 people, with 84 of them being convicted, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said in its latest report released late Thursday.

When civilians are arrested, they are subjected to inhumane torture, the group said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs announced on May 5 that it had taken control of the General Administration Department (GAD), the statement said.

This move effectively makes the village/ward administration level, which is the principal direct point of contact with local people, under the control of the central administration, allowing the junta to govern effectively, it added.

Jailed journalist put in solitary confinement

Kay Zon Nway, a Myanmar Now reporter who was arrested in late February while covering an anti-coup protest in Yangon has been placed in solitary confinement at Insein Prison after she started fasting during the Islamic Ramadan month, the independent media reported.

The reporter was charged under Section 505a of the Penal Code for incitement, which carries a prison sentence of up to three years, according to the report.

Her lawyer, Nilar Khine, said Nway has been in solitary confinement since April 28. Khine found out after seeing her at a hearing on Thursday.

“Some people do sit-in protests in prison, but she’s fasting because it’s Ramadan. She’s being put in confinement for no reason,” Myanmar Now quoted Khine as saying.

A woman who was recently released from the prison said Nway was falsely accused of going on a hunger strike when she began fasting for Ramadan, the report said.

During the Thursday proceedings, a senior police official told the court that Nway was arrested for inciting protests in Sanchaung. However, her council, on the other hand, argued that she had the right to report under Myanmar’s media law.

*Writing by Rhany Chairunissa Rufinaldo with Anadolu Agency’s Indonesian language services in Jakarta