48 prisoners injured in Pyapon jail shooting

 A shooting incident was reported inside the prison of  Pyapon township under Ayeyarwady region on the evening hours of Sunday that resulted in injuring 48 prisoners including many imprisoned political activists.

The Political Prisoners Network Myanmar (PPNM) informed that the soldiers and police personnel opened fire on the prisoners at around 5 pm on 31 March while they were peacefully protesting inside the prison.

Ko Thaik Tun Oo, a member of the PPNM steering committee, claimed that 48 prisoners were injured as a result of shooting and physical assaults by jail forces inside the prison. The prison department called the soldiers and police personnel under the pretext that 'political prisoners and other criminals were organizing a prison riot', asserted the PPNM member.

“Many military vehicles entered Pyapon prison after the gunshots,” said a PPNM statement, adding that  many imprisoned political activists also sustained injuries.

It also stated that on the morning of 1 April, the parcels sent for the prisoners were not accepted by the authority.

Narinjara News tried to contact PPNM and also the Pyapon township prison department for authenticating the information, but failed.

According to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP), no less than 26,462 political prisoners were arrested in Myanmar out of whom at least 1,699 were killed in custody from 1 February 2021 (the coup day) till 1 April 2024.