Min Thitsar Aung (Left) and Wai Yan Htet (right) (Supplied)

Min Thitsar Aung and Wai Yan Htet were hospitalised due to severe injuries they sustained when they jumped from the 44th St apartment building during a junta raid

By Myanmar Now

Two seriously injured young activists who were arrested during a raid on an apartment on Yangon’s 44th Street last month were transferred from a military hospital to Insein Prison last week, according to a relative.

Min Thitsar Aung and Wai Yan Htet are among the five people who jumped from a three-storey building as they attempted to escape a military raid in August. Two of them died at the scene after the fall, while three others—Ye Min Oo, Min Thitsar Aung, and Wai Yan Htet—survived but suffered severe injuries.

Before they were sent to Insein Prison, Min Thitsar Aung and Wai Yan Htet were undergoing treatment at the 500-bed military hospital in Mingaladon Township until Friday for injuries they endured from the fall.

Min Thitsar Aung’s father, Thein Kyaing, said he was informed of his son’s transfer on Sunday by the Botahtaung Township police officer that had filed the charges against the young activists at a district court.

“He said the police sent the pair by ambulance from Mingaladon to a hospital inside Insein Prison. I was not able to see them though. I would like to see my son, of course,” Thein Kyaing said.

He added that his son sustained an injury that had left him still unable to walk without assistance and Wai Yan Htet, who broke both his legs in the fall, requires the use of a wheelchair.

On Monday, Thein Kyaing said he went to Insein to deliver basic items to Min Thitsar Aung but the staff did not confirm whether he was detained there.

“The prison staff said they would inform me if my son was not there. They have not said anything to me yet, so I assume he is there,” he said.

At the time of reporting, Myanmar Now was unable to get in touch with the family of Wai Yan Htet.

On August 10, junta troops raided an apartment on 44th St in downtown Yangon where nine anti-coup activists were present. Five people—Wai Wai Myint, Wai Zaw Phyoe, Ye Min Oo, Min Thitsar Aung and Wai Yan Htet—jumped from the three-storey building to the ground while three people were arrested inside the apartment. The ninth person, Kaung Min Thant, managed to flee the raid.

Wai Wai Myint and Wai Zaw Phyoe did not survive the fall.

The three people who survived the jump, as well as the three others who were arrested from within the apartment and a taxi driver who had been hired by the group, were all charged with violating the Explosive Substances Act.

The three young men who jumped, Ye Min Oo, Min Thitsar Aung, Wai Yan Htet, and two of the people arrested from inside the apartment—Thiha Kaung Sett and Phyo Wai Aung—were all charged on September 10 with making and possessing explosives with the intent to endanger life. They face a maximum penalty of life in prison if found guilty. Their next hearing is scheduled for Friday.

Burmese version.

Original Post: Myanmar Now