Burma – A famous actor arrested, dozens of personalities tracked down

Actor Paing Takhon, one of Burma’s most popular celebrities to oppose the military coup, has been arrested by the junta, which is hunting dozens of prominent people in the country.

Posted today at 6:00 a.m.

Soldiers in a village in the Dooplaya district of Burma.

AFP

Paing Takhon, a model, actor and singer very famous in Burma and neighboring Thailand, was arrested at his mother’s home in Yangon and detained, according to local media. Wednesday, in one of his last messages on social networks, the young man of 24 years had indicated “not to be in good health for many days”.

“My heart is broken”, “Make us our hero”: condemnations flourished on the internet where Paing Takhon was followed by a million fans before his Facebook and Instagram pages were closed. His family could not be reached immediately to give details of his arrest.

The actor was one of the first personalities in the country to condemn the February 1 coup against the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi and to demand her release. He also participated in several pro-democracy demonstrations where he harangued the crowds with a megaphone.

“Help us stop crimes against humanity,” he wrote on social networks to condemn the bloody crackdown by the security forces which has already claimed some 600 victims, including some fifty children and adolescents.

More than 2,800 arrests

Paing Takhon was on a list of 120 celebrities – singers, models, journalists – with an arrest warrant. They are accused by the regime of having disseminated information likely to provoke mutinies in the armed forces.

More than 2,800 people have been arrested since February 1. Many, without access to a relative or a lawyer, are missing.

Pro-democracy mobilization continues with scores of workers on strike and entire sectors of the economy paralyzed. But the crowds are less numerous to demonstrate in the cities for fear of reprisals. The repression “is now concentrated in rural areas,” notes the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP).

More than 12 civilians were killed by security forces on Wednesday, according to the NGO. The crisis continues to stir up internationally. Burmese Ambassador to London Kyaw Zwar Minn, who last month gave his support to Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, accused the military attaché on Wednesday evening of “occupying”, on the orders of the junta, the diplomatic representation. and forbid him to enter it.

AFP

Posted today at 6:00 a.m.

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