Kachin IDP turned political prisoner Brang Shawng freed in amnesty

Brang Shawng and his wife are held by U Aung Min.

Lahtaw Brang Shawng, a Kachin farmer turned refugee was among 73 political prisoners freed yesterday as part of a presidential amnesty. Brang Shawng was arrested in June of last year at a Myitkyina internally displaced persons camp after being accused of being part of a Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) plot against the government.

He was also charged with violating Article 17/1 of the Unlawful Associations Act for his alleged association with the KIO, an accusation his family and his lawyer Ma Hka strongly denied. Last Friday after a controversial trial Brang Shawng was sentenced to a two year jail term.

The judge who convicted Brang Shawng was different from the first judge who was initially assigned to deal with the case. That judge was removed last year after he refused to accept Brang Shawng's guilty plea following an eventful meeting in his chambers.  The original judge became suspicious when he found an audio recording device taped to the Brang Shawng's badly bruised torso, according to his defense team.

In an interview conducted shortly after he was released Brang Shawng told the Kachin News Group that government agents from the Military Affairs Security (MAS) unit extracted a false confession from him.

“I completely rejected the Military Affairs Security Unit agent's claim that I was connected to the KIA (Kachin Independence Army). I was forced to confess however that I was a three-star (captain rank) KIA officer and sentenced for imprisonment on July 18,” Brawng Shawng said.

After UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in Burma, Tomas Quintana met Brang Shawng in prison he concluded in his report that Brang Shawng had been tortured by the military during his interrogation and compelled to give a false confession.

A very public campaign by Brang Shawn's wife Ze Nyoi demanding his release compelled the government’s chief negotiation Aung Min to promise earlier this year that he would be freed. Yesterday Aung Min came to Myitkyina prison to facilitate his release. “I am very happy to be reunited with my family in the refugee camp. I also thank the pastors and individuals who contributed to my release”, Brang Shawng told KNG.

It is expected that Brang Shawng will face a long time recovering from his deal.  According to his family members and his lawyer he was physically scarred and left severely traumatized during the lengthy interrogation sessions.

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