The hundreds arrested since the coup join the already hundreds of political prisoners in the country who were imprisoned both under the previous junta and the National League for Democracy, or NLD. “We have now seen not just a new generation of political prisoners, but also the retargeting of former political prisoners,” said Manny Maung, a Myanmar researcher at New York-based Human Rights Watch. According to the AAPP, Myanmar had over 700 political prisoners as of Jan. 31, with hundreds being charged during the NLD’s time in power. But hope quickly dissipated in the years that followed, as repressive laws widely stayed on the books and political prisoners remained without official recognition. As arrests of dissidents continue during anti-coup protests across Myanmar, experts are concerned that a new generation of political prisoners will begin to fill the country’s prisons.

Source: Egypt Independent February 24, 2021 05:15 UTC