Missing Myanmar activist, family’s actions seemed voluntary, say cops

 

Human Rights Watch claims activist Thuzar Maung, her husband Saw Than Tin Win and their three children have been missing since July 4. (Human Rights Watch pic)

PETALING JAYA: Police are not ruling out the possibility that Myanmar activist Thuzar Maung and her family fled their home willingly and were not abducted as claimed by certain parties.

Bukit Aman criminal investigation director Shuhaily Zain told FMT that based on CCTV footage, the family’s actions appeared to be “voluntary”.

This latest development comes almost three months after Thuzar, her husband and three children went missing from their home in Ampang, Selangor, on July 4.

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Human Rights Watch had claimed that the 46-year-old woman and her family were feared to have been abducted “in a planned operation”, citing witnesses and the CCTV footage at her house.

However, police investigators believe otherwise.

“From what we can see on the CCTV, there’s no sign of them being kidnapped. Everything was voluntary.

“They entered the car voluntarily, the kids also entered the car voluntarily, and the car was also not driven in a speedy manner,” said Shuhaily.

Despite this, he assured the public, especially the Myanmar community, that the police are still probing the case as a “missing persons” inquiry.

“Let it be clear that we have not closed the case. We are still investigating and replying to inquiries from concerned NGOs, so I do not want the public to get the impression that we have closed the case,” he said.

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Previously, there was speculation that Thuzar, who fled Myanmar for Malaysia in 2015, may have been abducted by agents working for the country’s junta government due to her support for Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement. - FMT