There was a riot in Pathein Prison in Ayeyarwaddy Region after an inmate convicted on drugs charges beat a political prisoner, on 23 April, according to prison staff.

The riot started after the prisoner convicted on drugs charges assaulted a political prisoner who was amongst a The riot started when one of a group of political prisoners was assaulted by the prisoner convicted on drugs charges as he was teaching the group to correctly do the prison squat, a prison staff member told Mizzima.

“The newly arrived political prisoners where learning to do the prison squat where they need to keep their backs straight and put their hands behind their backs or have their hands crossed [in front of them] when the prison warden comes. An inmate who has been in prison for a long time teaches these prison rules [to new arrivals] and he [the man convicted of drugs offences] beat up one of the political prisoners because he wasn’t doing [what he taught him] very well. The riot was sparked because the other political prisoners were unhappy with the incident”, said the prison staff member.

He added: “The riot stopped when Pathein prison staff arrived, according to the prison officials. The inmate who beat up the political prisoner was moved to another section [of the prison] with
shackles on his ankles and we do not yet know what further action will be taken.”

According to the staff member more than 300 political prisoners have been detained in Pathein Prison since the military coup and around 100 of them have been sentenced by the prison court.