Security officials responded to a brutal crackdown on thousands of people, including five people who were arrested on Friday in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, according to eyewitnesses minutes after being questioned by CNN journalists.
The CNN team visited the bazaar “Ten Miles” in Insein township in Yangon, where they interviewed locals. Among the interviews were two women who saluted the three-finger protest salute.
The eye was arrested by a group of security officers within three to five minutes after the CNN team left the area, according to eyewitnesses.
The women work at a store in the market. They were taken to the Shwe Pyi Thar interrogation center, a source close to them said.
In a separate incident, the team interviewed residents in Yangon’s Mingaladon market. A man and a woman were arrested after the interview and another person, according to an eyewitness, managed to get away.
A family member of the two detainees in Mingaladon approached the CNN team and told what happened. She was arrested herself as soon as the journalists moved out of the area.
CNN contacted the Myanmar military for comment, saying the individuals had been released.
However, sources close to the detainees told CNN on Saturday that at least four women and a man were still being held in the interrogation center in Shwe Pyi Thar.
The military junta in Myanmar has cut off all wireless internet services until further notice, which is apparently a joint effort to control communications and messages in the country in Southeast Asia.
Pro-democracy protesters have repeatedly filled streets across the country for two months after the government was overthrown by the military.
The ousted civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was charged on Thursday with violating the country’s official secret law while security services tried to fight protests.
Human rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Friday that the junta had “disappeared by force” of hundreds of people since the coup – including politicians, election officials, journalists, activists and protesters.
According to AAPP, at least 2,751 people, including journalists, protesters, activists, government officials, trade unionists, writers, students, civilians and even children, have been detained since April 2, often in checkpoints.
CNN is in Myanmar with the permission of the military and is being escorted by the military.
“We are aware of reports of detention following our team’s visit to Yangon, Myanmar,” a CNN spokesman said on Saturday.
“We urge the authorities for information on this and for the safe release of prisoners.”