Myanmar junta targets group that assisted at funeral for Suu Kyi ally

Regime authorities arrested members of a Mandalay-based aid organisation on Saturday who had helped at a funeral service for former Mandalay chief minister Dr. Zaw Myint Maung earlier this month. Junta troops arrived in civilian vehicles on the night of October 26 at the office of the Parahita Min Gaung Emergency Rescue Service in Mandalay’s Aungmyethazan Township and detained eight people including the organisation’s chair Khin Maung Tint, according to a representative of another Mandalay-based charity organisation. “From what we’ve heard, we think it’s related to Dr. Zaw’s funeral. We don’t know the situation yet. We can’t make contact,” said the charity worker, who requested anonymity for security reasons. Photo - Dr. Zaw Myint Maung’s body was transported through Mandalay’s streets for his funeral on October 8 (Photo - Supplied) Dr. Zaw Myint Maung’s body was transported through Mandalay’s streets for his funeral on October 8 (Photo - Supplied) Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, 73, was imprisoned by the military after the coup of February 2021, released shortly before his death, and died of leukaemia at Mandalay General Hospital. A vice-president of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party, he became a member of Myanmar’s parliament and later chief minister of Mandalay Region, serving until the military deposed the NLD government. Staff from the Parahita Min Gaung Emergency Rescue Service escorted his body from his residence to the cemetery. Mandalay residents who had gathered to pay their respects chanted the slogan “We must win!” as the chief minister’s body was placed in the hearse. Caption: Members of Parahita Min Gaung Emergency Rescue Service transporting a body in October 2024 (Photo: Parahita Min Gaung Facebook) Currently, the Parahita Min Gaung social media page has not posted about its operations for the past three days, and phones at the organisation’s offices were unreachable. Dr. Nay Soe Maung, the son-in-law of former military junta chief Than Shwe who attended Dr. Zaw Myint Maung’s funeral service and praised him on social media, was subsequently arrested in Pyigyitagon Township on October 24 and is facing charges that the military council has not made public. Thousands of Mandalay residents joined the funeral procession in the streets on the day of Dr. Zaw Myint Maung’s funeral, but the junta allowed only relatives of the late chief minister to enter the cemetery.

Myanmar junta targets group that assisted at funeral for Suu Kyi ally

There has been no communication from eight members of the charitable organisation—which helped transport the late pro-democracy leader’s body during his funeral—since military authorities detained them in a nighttime raid on Saturday

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