Family members of monk leader arrested

October 19, Democratic Voice of Burma


Government authorities have arrested family members of U Gambira, a monk
wanted for his involvement in anti-government demonstrations, and say they
will not release them until U Gambira has been detained.

U Gambira, leader of the All-Burma Monks Alliance, the monks’ group which
organised large-scale protests in the former capital Rangoon and other
townships across Burma, has been on the government’s most wanted list and
but has not yet been located by government security forces.

Ko Aung Kyaw Kyaw, the younger brother of U Gambira and secretary of the
National League for Democracy in Pauk township, Magwe division, was
arrested in Rangoon on Wednesday by authorities. Another brother of the
monk, Ko Win Zaw, a HIV/AIDS patient, was also arrested in their hometown
of Pauk recently.

Sources close to the family told DVB that U Gambira's mother and sister
were also arrested by the township police in Meikhtila in Mandalay
division, leaving his father and another sister on the run.

The sources also told DVB that the military intelligence officer who
arrested U Gambira's family members apparently told them they would not be
released until the monk is detained.