MP urges Tok Mat to contact Myanmar over student leader’s arrest

Wong Chen's call follows claims Ko Htet Myat Aung was assaulted while being detained by the military.

Myanmar student leader Ko Htet Myat Aung was reported to have been detained in Mandalay on Dec 17. (APHR pic)

PETALING JAYA:

 Subang MP Wong Chen has urged foreign minister Mohamad Hasan to get in touch with the military junta of Myanmar following the detention of a student leader there.

The PKR MP urged Mohamad, also known as Tok Mat, to enquire about the status of 24-year-old Ko Htet Myat Aung, who was reportedly arrested in Mandalay on Dec 17.

He said Mohamad should use the Asean foreign ministers’ meeting as a platform to raise the matter.

Mohamad had presided over the meeting in Kuala Lumpur earlier this evening, although Myanmar officials were said to have joined virtually.

Wong’s call follows claims that Ko, the former president of a student union at a Myanmar university, was assaulted while being arrested by the military.

The Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) had called for his immediate release, expressing fears he may face torture while being detained.

APHR urged Asean member states to exert diplomatic and political pressure on Myanmar to guarantee the activist’s safety and obtain his release, along with other political prisoners.

“The arrest and abuse of Ko reflect the Myanmar military’s systematic use of torture and arbitrary detention to silence peaceful dissent, dismantle democratic leadership, and entrench its grip on power through fear and repression,” said Indonesian MP and APHR chairman Mercy Chriesty Barends. - FMT