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On the night of Sept. 4th, a deadly shooting occurred after a dispute between local youth and Burmese army officers from Infantry Battalion 59 near the California restaurant, located on Mya Street in southern Zaiganaing Ward, Pegu. Soon after a fight, Aung Thu Hein, 23, and Soe Pai Zaw ,19, were shot to death by a group of soldiers. Irrawaddy reporter Min Naing Thu interviewed Aung Thu Hein's aunt about what happened.
Question: Have the authorities made any more attempts to negotiate with you lately?
Answer: Not really. The funeral was over on Sept. 7. They haven't come to us since.
Q: News came out that authorities gave you 1 million kyat [US $1,086]. Is that true?
A: That is true. They actually did. But we didn't accept it, but other families did. We didn't accept any financial offer. We bought a coffin by ourselves. We requested the authorities to allow us to take care of my beloved nephew's final departure.
Q: We heard only five monks were allowed to lead the ritual for the funeral. Were monks invited by the authorities?
A: Authorities suggested that we only bring five monks to the cemetery because it's only a small space there. So, we held the merit-sharing ceremony for the deceased with five monks. We really didn't mind about the number of monks.
Q: I spoke with one of Soe Pai Zaw's cousins on the day of the funeral, and he said people were not allowed to see the bodies. Do you know anything about that?
A: I am not aware of whether Soe Pai Zaw's relatives were allowed to see him or not. But, all of our kin had a chance to view my nephew's body. Cousins came here by motorcycles before the funeral. They all were allowed to see the body. Of course, they were questioned about how they were related to Aung Thu Hein.
Q: Who questioned them?
A: I don't know exactly as they were in plainclothes. But, the army did not come to the funeral. My mother explicitly said no army at the funeral. You know…. we felt really hurt. There were no army personnel at the funeral, but there were policemen.
Q: The state-run FM radio stations reported that the army was forced to open fire because “delinquents” attacked them first and tried to grab the soldiers' guns. Tell us what happened?
A: They had drinks at California restaurant. So did the soldiers. Then, a motorcycle carrying an army officer hit a three-wheeled taxi carrying my nephew and his friends. They exchanged bad words and then had a fight. My nephew and his friends came back to our ward after that. The soldiers followed them about 45 minutes or an hour later and shot them to death. The place where they were shot was quite far from California restaurant.
Q: Were your nephew and his friend outside at the time of the shooting?
A: Before the shooting took place, a bunch of them, including my nephew, were playing guitar and just enjoying their time. Later, his friends took him to a teashop to cheer him up as he was about to return to Rangoon. But, I heard they happened to go to a bar instead. I was about to go to bed and heard gun shots. I didn't hear my nephew's voice. If I did, I would have interfered. If my nephew hurt someone, I usually went to their parents and apologized to them myself. My nephew was not an aggressive kid. I knew him well. So I remained inside the house as I did not hear his voice. May we were scared of the gun fire. When I tried to go out of the house to find out what was going on, I was told not to by a police second lieutenant who lived in front of our house and was on leave for his mother's funeral. He said, “Don't go! That wasn't firecrackers, but gunfire.” Automatic gunfire continued then.
Q: Aung Thu Hein and his friends had thought it was over when they returned from the quarrel.
A: When they were about to walk back home soldiers appeared from both sides on Mya street and shot at them.
Q: Were there any witnesses?
A: People living on that street saw the entire incident with their eyes, but no one dared to testify against the army.
On the night of Sept. 4th, a deadly shooting occurred after a dispute between local youth and Burmese army officers from Infantry Battalion 59 near the California restaurant, located on Mya Street in southern Zaiganaing Ward, Pegu. Soon after a fight, Aung Thu Hein, 23, and Soe Pai Zaw ,19, were shot to death by a group of soldiers. Irrawaddy reporter Min Naing Thu interviewed Aung Thu Hein's aunt about what happened.
Question: Have the authorities made any more attempts to negotiate with you lately?
Answer: Not really. The funeral was over on Sept. 7. They haven't come to us since.
Q: News came out that authorities gave you 1 million kyat [US $1,086]. Is that true?
A: That is true. They actually did. But we didn't accept it, but other families did. We didn't accept any financial offer. We bought a coffin by ourselves. We requested the authorities to allow us to take care of my beloved nephew's final departure.
Q: We heard only five monks were allowed to lead the ritual for the funeral. Were monks invited by the authorities?
A: Authorities suggested that we only bring five monks to the cemetery because it's only a small space there. So, we held the merit-sharing ceremony for the deceased with five monks. We really didn't mind about the number of monks.
Q: I spoke with one of Soe Pai Zaw's cousins on the day of the funeral, and he said people were not allowed to see the bodies. Do you know anything about that?
A: I am not aware of whether Soe Pai Zaw's relatives were allowed to see him or not. But, all of our kin had a chance to view my nephew's body. Cousins came here by motorcycles before the funeral. They all were allowed to see the body. Of course, they were questioned about how they were related to Aung Thu Hein.
Q: Who questioned them?
A: I don't know exactly as they were in plainclothes. But, the army did not come to the funeral. My mother explicitly said no army at the funeral. You know…. we felt really hurt. There were no army personnel at the funeral, but there were policemen.
Q: The state-run FM radio stations reported that the army was forced to open fire because “delinquents” attacked them first and tried to grab the soldiers' guns. Tell us what happened?
A: They had drinks at California restaurant. So did the soldiers. Then, a motorcycle carrying an army officer hit a three-wheeled taxi carrying my nephew and his friends. They exchanged bad words and then had a fight. My nephew and his friends came back to our ward after that. The soldiers followed them about 45 minutes or an hour later and shot them to death. The place where they were shot was quite far from California restaurant.
Q: Were your nephew and his friend outside at the time of the shooting?
A: Before the shooting took place, a bunch of them, including my nephew, were playing guitar and just enjoying their time. Later, his friends took him to a teashop to cheer him up as he was about to return to Rangoon. But, I heard they happened to go to a bar instead. I was about to go to bed and heard gun shots. I didn't hear my nephew's voice. If I did, I would have interfered. If my nephew hurt someone, I usually went to their parents and apologized to them myself. My nephew was not an aggressive kid. I knew him well. So I remained inside the house as I did not hear his voice. May we were scared of the gun fire. When I tried to go out of the house to find out what was going on, I was told not to by a police second lieutenant who lived in front of our house and was on leave for his mother's funeral. He said, “Don't go! That wasn't firecrackers, but gunfire.” Automatic gunfire continued then.
Q: Aung Thu Hein and his friends had thought it was over when they returned from the quarrel.
A: When they were about to walk back home soldiers appeared from both sides on Mya street and shot at them.
Q: Were there any witnesses?
A: People living on that street saw the entire incident with their eyes, but no one dared to testify against the army.
