Mandalay residents arrested for online criticism of Myanmar junta

At least seven people have been arrested in Mandalay this month for criticising Myanmar’s military junta online, according to residents of the city and local media reports. On Monday, a woman was taken into custody at a restaurant in Chanayethazan Township after reportedly complaining on social media about the recent killing of civilians by junta shelling in Thone Se Pay, a village located about five miles north of Mandalay. “She wrote that the military was targeting civilians because it was afraid to engage in a direct confrontation with resistance forces. That’s why they arrested her,” said a resident of the township. In photos posted on pro-junta Telegram channels, the woman, 35-year-old Aye Aye Soe, can be seen kneeling between tables at the restaurant with her handcuffed hands raised above her head. According to the Chanayethazan resident, two others have also been arrested recently, including a man in his 50s who made critical comments about the regime on Facebook, and another in his 30s who texted a friend who is a member of an armed group, saying that he missed him. Last Friday, there were reports of regime forces stopping people on 26th Street in Aungmyaythazan Township and demanding to see their mobile phones. At least two men were arrested, a local woman told Myanmar Now. “They were detaining people as they returned home from work. Many people were stopped, but those who had nothing incriminating on their phones were released,” the woman said. Voice of Mandalay, a Facebook page that reports news from the ground in Mandalay Region, said that a 25-year-old man was arrested on September 18 for posting comments critical of the regime, while several others were detained on September 4 for complaining about frequent blackouts. A woman was also arrested on September 8 for having an anti-junta tattoo, the outlet said. The regime has tightened security in Mandalay amid ongoing offensives by anti-junta forces north and southwest of the city, resulting in an increase in arrests, according to locals. Many residents of Mandalay, including monks, doctors, lawyers, and teachers, have been arrested since the military seized power in a coup in February 2021.

Mandalay residents arrested for online criticism of Myanmar junta

At least seven people have been taken into custody in the city over the past month, according to local sources

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