Myanmar resistance freed political prisoners during capture of Depayin

Anti-junta resistance forces commanded by the National Unity Government (NUG) released political prisoners from junta custody during a campaign to take over the town of Depayin, Sagaing Region last week, NUG spokespersons said. According to a press release issued on Tuesday by the NUG’s Military Region 1 command, resistance fighters rescued prisoners being held at a police station in Depayin during an offensive operation launched on August 15 with the aim of capturing the town. The fighters were members of the People’s Defence Forces commanded by the defence ministry of the NUG, a shadow cabinet formed and endorsed by elected civilian leaders and members of parliament ousted in the military coup of 2021. By the morning of August 18, the NUG-commanded units’ assaults captured Depayin—located about 40 miles north of the Myanmar military’s Northwestern Regional Military Command headquarters in Sagaing Region’s administrative capital, Monywa. After two days of clashes with the PDF, junta soldiers and police abandoned their base in Depayin and withdrew from the town, giving the resistance fighters access to the detainees held in the cell. Resistance members said they rescued 20 detainees— mostly political prisoners—held at the township police station on the morning of August 17 and that most of the detainees were middle-aged, with one elderly woman among them. Authorities arrested most of the detainees for suspected connections to the military regime’s political opponents, according to the resistance forces, with some facing charges under the Counter-Terrorism Law, which potentially carry a long-term prison sentence. Myanmar Now is still reaching out to sources for details about the detainees. Junta troops struck back within hours of the resistance fighters’ seizure of the town, soon forcing their retreat. Ko Thit Sar, an officer of the Depayin Township People’s Defence Team, said that the rescued detainees were escorted back to their families. Resistance forces took control of Depayin after three days of clashes with the junta troops stationed in the town, but had to withdraw the same day (Photo: 96 Soldiers PDF) Comrade Mann Lay, operational officer of the ‘96 Soldiers’ PDF unit that took part in the offensive and the rescue, described the incident. “We asked them to shout if they were prisoners,” he said. “They shouted two or three times, confirming they were prisoners.” The Sagaing Region People’s Defence Forces also announced on August 18 that the resistance fighters had detained two surrendering junta-trained militia members, 41 junta-appointed administrators, and 80 of the administrators’ family members during the offensive. Ko Thit Sar, an officer with the township’s people’s defence team, said that detainees would be held in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, and those subject to prosecution would be charged according to the NUG defence ministry’s guidelines. According to the NUG’s rules for holding and prosecuting prisoners, a committee will bring appropriate charges against junta-appointed members of the regime’s civil service, including staff of the junta-controlled fire, health, education, and general administration departments Before their release, the NUG will also require any other administrative staff not subject to prosecution to sign a pledge not to cooperate with the military regime again. Brief capture of Depayin Among the participants in the three-day campaign to capture Depayin were members of the NUG-commanded Shwebo District PDF, local people’s defence teams, and other local resistance groups. They assaulted and captured the police station, high school, and administrative offices defended by around 80 junta troops. Resistance forces took control of Depayin after three days of clashes with the junta troops stationed in the town, but had to withdraw the same day (Photo: 96 Soldiers PDF) Hours later, the junta troops recaptured the town with support from the air force. Four members of the allied resistance forces and 18 junta troops were reportedly killed during the clashes, and 10 more junta troops were reportedly wounded, according to the statement released by the NUG’s Military Region 1 command. Myanmar Now has not been able to confirm these casualty figures independently. The NUG statement also claimed that resistance forces seized 22 weapons, a supply of ammunition, and 34 million Myanmar kyat (US $10,500) in cash. Locals said the junta troops who retook Depayin on August 18, who had been stationed at the town’s Kone Thar Oo and Po Ba Yone monasteries, had been torching houses in the town and firing on nearby villages using heavy artillery. Ko Phyo, a participant in a humanitarian organisation that assists displaced civilians, said, “Yesterday they set fires in Ah Nauk Kwet Thit Ward in Depayin, and we saw the smoke. Today, they are continuing to set fires. We saw smoke rising from west of Sayar San Hall.” Hundreds of residents displaced from the town and nearby villages have been unwilling to return home for fear of junta air raids and shelling. In a similar incident during a campaign to take control of Matupi Township in Chin State last month, resistance forces freed thirteen political prisoners whom junta troops had been using as human shields. More than fifty political prisoners were also released after resistance forces raided the police station in Chin State’s administrative capital, Hakha.

Myanmar resistance freed political prisoners during capture of Depayin

Before a junta counterattack forced them to withdraw from the town, NUG-commanded forces rescued detainees held at Depayin’s police station and facing charges under the Counterterrorism Law

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