1/6/2024 0 Comments Iosan spy network![]() ![]() He spoke to The Associated Press by telephone in a conversation he feared was being tapped by police.Įvery day, six to eight officers from various security departments can be seen at a tea shop across the street from the opposition party headquarters, jotting down who comes and goes and snapping the occasional picture. “Old habits die hard,” said lawmaker Win Htein of the opposition National League for Democracy party, who spent nearly 20 years in prison during the military reign. But while many political prisoners have been released, newspapers are no longer censored and freedom of speech has largely become a reality, the government has not ceased spying on its own people. The level of oppression has eased markedly since President Thein Sein, a former army general, took office in 2011 after an opposition-boycotted election. In years past, he and thousands of other dissidents were hauled off to jail, instilling widespread fear in the hearts of a downtrodden population to ensure that nobody spoke out. Mya Aye was one of the student leaders of a failed uprising in 1988 against the repressive military junta that ruled for nearly five decades and employed a colossal network of intelligence agents to crack down on dissent. They act like we’re criminals, harassing us, our families. “It’s not as bad as it used to be,” said Mya Aye, who devotes much of his time today campaigning for citizen’s rights, “but it’s really annoying. The same, familiar faces at crowded street cafes. Politicians, journalists, writers, diplomats, too, find themselves being watched: Men on motorcycles tailing closely. MANDALAY - It’s been two years since Burma’s new government promised its people a more open way of life, but still they come, plainclothes state intelligence officers asking where former student activist Mya Aye is and when he’ll back.
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