A ward chair for the National League for Democracy (NLD) party in Yangon’s Pabedan Township died on Sunday after security forces took him from his home during a Saturday night raid on the city.
Family members of 58-year-old Khin Maung Latt were informed by officials from the Pabedan police station on Sunday morning that they needed to come and retrieve his body from the Mingalardon Military Hospital.
According to lawyer Maung Maung, who is close to the family of the late NLD ward chair, Khin Maung Latt’s cause of death remains unknown even though an autopsy was carried out at the hospital.
He said that the police must open a murder case and investigate what killed Khin Maung Latt, who was in good health at the time of his arrest.
“The autopsy report may either be the truth or [the hospital officials] can write whatever they want,” Maung Maung told Myanmar Now.
On Saturday night, the arrests of several other NLD members in Yangon were reported, but at the time of reporting, Myanmar Now was unable to confirm individual cases.
A funeral for Khin Maung Latt is scheduled to be held on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. at Yayway Cemetery in accordance with the Islamic tradition, Pabedan Township’s elected NLD lawmaker Sithu Maung wrote on his Facebook page.
Both the NLD’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint have been held largely incommunicado since the February 1 coup, only appearing for court hearings via live video.
Many of the NLD’s chief ministers have also been charged by the military under a law that prohibits actions causing fear or alarm among the public or that incite people to commit offences against the state.
Despite brutal and lethal crackdowns on anti-coup protesters by soldiers and police in cities and towns across Myanmar, demonstrators continue to take to the streets denouncing the military coup.
At least seven protesters were beaten and arrested on Sunday morning at the corner of 46th Street in Yangon’s Pazundaung Township during a crackdown by security forces.
Three young protesters and four female vendors from the Yay Gyaw Market in Pazundaung were also seen being beaten by soldiers and police.
According to a report from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners released on Saturday, a total of 1,758 people have been arrested, charged or sentenced, and over 50 people have been killed since the military coup on February 1.
