Five political prisoners were injured when they were attacked by inmates serving sentences for non-political crimes, as prison officers looked on, in Pyay Prison, Bago Region on 22 February 2025.
According to a statement by Political Prisoners Network-Myanmar (PPNM) a prison officer working in the cafeteria at Pyay Prison in Pyay Town punched a political prisoner unprovoked and for no reason. This prompted about 100 political prisoners to demand that the prison governor address the incident.
As the political prisoners were demanding accountability from the governor two warning shots were fired from a prison guard tower.
Then three prisoners serving sentences for non-political crimes attacked the political prisoners with wooden and bamboo sticks and knives as prison officers looked an and did nothing. Five political prisoners were injured in the attack and suffered from lacerations to their heads and bruising to their bodies.
Ko Thaik Tun Oo, a member of the PPNM’s steering committee, said to KIC: “These days, in some prisons, the authorities are aware that some inmates possess weapons, but they are deliberately ignoring this. The incident on 22 February clearly shows that failing to effectively prohibit weapons in prisons can lead to dangerous situations that threaten the survival of political prisoners.”
He added that the authorities in Myanmar prisons are now, more blatantly than ever, abusing prisoners’ human rights by doing things like inciting disputes amongst prisoners and ignoring that some prisoners are in possession of weapons that they use to attack prisoners they have disagreements with.
The PPNM statement also called for an end to the unjust repression of political prisoners and for such repression to be properly addressed in accordance with the law.
As of 21 February 2025 the junta had arrested 28,637 people nationwide since the 1 February 2021 coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
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