U Soe Win, the MP of Pegu released due to ill health

July 2, 2003

The DVB has learnt that the NLD MP of Pegu, U Soe Win who was arrested after the Dipeyin incident was released and returned to his home at 10pm on the 29th of June due to his life threatening condition.

Before the arrest, U Soe Win was a healthy man but after nearly a month in detention his blood pressure is extremely low and he is even unable to speak and he is now lying helplessly in bed.

A Pegu Division NLD leader who went to see him yesterday told the DVB that there are some signs of scars from beating on his face and head:

A Pegu Division NLD leader : His health condition is not good now. Not good. He needs to be treated for a long time. Yesterday, we had to force him with difficulty to drink a mug of rice soup. I had to feed him a mug of soup with his wife before I came home at 4.30pm. We forced him to drink it. He forced himself to drink a mug of soup. We need to treat him for a long time. He became ill after taking some medicines. There are some scars on his temples and eyebrows.

DVB : Before he was arrested, how was his health condition?

A Pegu Division NLD leader : He was as fit as a fiddle. His weight was full. He was healthy and alert. Now, he is lying helplessly in bed.

DVB : Could you tell us the feeling of his family?

A Pegu Division NLD leader : As soon as he got home, his family was very upset. To be frank, they (intelligence agents) are too cruel and inhumane. How could they treat him like this, they asked.

DVB : He was arrested less than a month ago…

A Pegu Division NLD leader : Yes. People who came to see him were very shocked by how much he has deteriorated within a month. They (intelligence agents) seemed to interrogate him very badly. He was really upset and his condition deteriorated thus, I think. When they arrested him, he told the intelligence agents not to mistreat him. ‘I am not doing anything wrong. I am working for the benefit of the country. If you mistreat me, I will take my own life,’ he told them.

U Soe Win was an information and news officer at the NLD Head Office and he was arrested as soon as the Dipeyin incident occurred. He was detained at a military camp between South Okkala and North Dagon townships with U Myint Thein and U Thein Oo. Relatives and families are seriously worried about the health conditions of the remaining detainees.