July 27th, 2022
Political prisoners in Insein Prison in Yangon are no longer allowed to receive their prisoner money because they boycotted the prison commissary, according to family members of the prisoners.
A husband of a political prisoner charged under Section 505 (a) said that when he visited his wife in prison on July 26th, prison authorities did not accept money but dry rations and told him that it was because the prisoners had boycotted the prison canteen.
“The political prisoners in Insein Prison pay in the largest amounts of money. So now they are fighting not to lose this little right they have,” he said.
A prison commissary is a store within a correctional facility where prisoners can buy products such as hygiene items, snacks and also breakfast. The prison charges a 20 percent fee for each deposit they make. So, the prisoner will only receive MMK50000 if you deposit MMK60000, said the husband of the female prisoner.
A lawyer from a legal aid group, who asked not to be named, said prison staff earn a substantial income from the money deposited by prisoners’ family members and that they keep up to 20 percent of the money.
For example, depending on the amount of money deposited, prison staff charge, MMK1000 for a bowl of Mohinga worth only MMK500 or MMK600 for a bottle of drinking water worth only MMK300 and divide the exploitative profit among themselves, the lawyer added.
Currently, most political prisoners in the prison have unprecedentedly strong cohesion among themselves and support each other. They even share their dry rations with each other, he said.
Following the execution of 88 Generation Student leader Ko Jimmy, former lawmaker U Phyo Zeyar Thaw, Ko Hla Myo Aung and Ko Aung Thura Zaw on July 25th, riots reportedly broke out in Yangon’s Insein Prison, Mandalay’s Obo Prison and Pyay Prison.
According to records from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), from January 1st, 2021, to February 26th, 2022, the State Administration Council (SAC) arrested and detained a total of 11,795 people across Myanmar, of whom 1,348 were sentenced to prison terms.
Of those sentenced to imprisonment, 72 were sentenced to death and 41 of them were sentenced to death in absentia, bringing the total number of those sentenced to death to 113, according to AAPP records.
Sent by NMG