Relatives of a 21-year-old political prisoner who died in Karenni (Kayah) State’s Loikaw Prison last week say they have been prevented from claiming his body.
Maung Nge, who was also known as John, died in custody last Thursday while serving a five-year prison sentence for alleged anti-junta activities, according to a family friend.
His family was informed of his death at around 7am that day and instructed to collect the body at the prison, the friend said. When they went there, however, they were told that it had been sent to the morgue at Loikaw General Hospital.
At the hospital, a doctor said that the body had been taken to a local court. Since then, all efforts to locate it have been unsuccessful, according to the friend.
The family had to negotiate with police to receive hair and fingernails so that they could hold a funeral on Friday, he added.
No official cause of death has been given. Maung Nge reportedly had a history of health problems.
“He had tuberculosis as a child. His family said he was very sickly as a child,” said the friend, who spoke to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity.
Maung Nge was arrested in Loikaw last year and charged under Section 52 of the Anti-Terrorism Law after police found a photo of him holding a gun.
“They spotted the photo on his phone during a security check at a checkpoint in Loikaw. His family said he was a member of a defence group, but didn’t say which one,” said the friend.
Myanmar Now has been unable to reach Maung Nge’s family or junta authorities for comment on his death.
According to a statement released by the Progressive Karenni People’s Force on October 1, at least seven political prisoners have died in custody in ethnic Karenni areas since last year’s coup. Another 273 remain in detention, the group added.
Despite its efforts to crush Karenni resistance groups active in Karenni State and southern Shan State’s Pekhon Township, the military continues to come under attack even in Loikaw, where it has a number of bases.
