June 30th, 2022
The military detains passersby at night at the checkpoint at the entrance of Pathein in Ayeyarwaddy Region. They extort at least Ks-200,000 from a detainee.
The soldiers detain the persons who crossed the checkpoint at night citing they go outside at night. Then, the soldiers contact the members of the administrative body and family members and ask for Ks-200,000 to Ks-300,000 to release the detainees at midnight.
“I thought I was robbed because a group of people came out of the dark and told me to stop my motorbike. Then, they checked my mobile phone and searched my body. They detained and told me to contact my family,” a person who got arrested at Paukkone checkpoint in Pathein and paid Ks-200,000.
The soldiers from the military engineering unit at Paukkone checkpoint and the old soldiers at Pathein Suspension Bridge checkpoint arrest the people and extort money. The soldiers release the detainees after beating them, according to some people who are released soon.
They extort money from the people by threatening to arrest and imprison those who saved the photos of Bogyoke Aung San, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the logo of the National League for Democracy (NLD), peacock and the Spring Revolution and the profile of the National Unity Government (NUG) in the mobile phones.
“I saved the family photos of the Bogyoke and the photos of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on my phone. Most of the people may save these photos. They extort money,” said a driver who paid Ks-200,000 at the checkpoint of Pathein Suspension Bridge.
The people have to pay money as most detainees are at risk of death at the interrogation camps and the detainees have to pay a large sum of money for freeing, some detainees say.
Koesu village checkpoint on Pathein-Monywa-YeU road, the Pathein Suspension Bridge checkpoint on Pathein-Chaungtha Road and Paukkone village checkpoint on Pathein-Ngaputaw Road are the checkpoints at the entrance of Pathein.
Sent by the NMG