A 15-year-old boy was among a family of six detained by the regime in Mandalay Region earlier this month after a traffic police officer who lived next door to them was shot dead, the teenager’s mother has said.
Ye Thura Zaw, his grandmother, three aunts and a cousin were arrested hours after Myat Ko Ko Aung, a traffic sergeant, was shot dead in Myingyan on the afternoon of June 18.
His mother, War War Min Thu, told Myanmar Now that he and her other relatives are innocent.
“The traffic policeman’s wife made allegations that our home was storing weapons, bombs and guns for the PDF, and that we killed her husband,” she said, referring to the People’s Defense Force.
“We have nothing at home, it’s all false,” she added.
A local resistance group called the Zero Guerilla Team has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying traffic officers had teamed up with regime soldiers to arrest people on motorbikes and fine them.
Ye Thura Zaw is being detained at the Myingyan police station while the other five are in Myingyan prison.
Police called some distant relatives and told them to come and bail him out, War War Min Thu said, but when they arrived officers wouldn’t let him go.
“I’m worried for my son because he would cry even if I hit him. I’m just constantly worried that he’ll be traumatised and scared,” she said.
Police are still searching for other family members to arrest in relation to the killing, added War War Min Thu, who is not in the country.
The family will have their first hearing on July 2, but it is still unclear what charges will be brought against them. Wah Wah Min Thu said she has not been able to confirm if Ye Thura Zaw will stand trial.
At least 6,399 people have been arrested by the regime since February 1, with 5,202 of those still in detention, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Another 1,966 have warrants out for their arrest, the group’s latest figures showed.
The junta has repeatedly targeted the families of activists. On Monday the daughter of a protest leader in Mogok spent her fifth birthday in detention.
