The two police officers who were taken into custody and questioned after appearing in a controversial interview broadcasted on DVB’s television channel last week have been transferred.
The two were taken into custody by Sagaing Division’s police after they appeared in an interview where they spoke about the poor conditions they were forced to endure while providing security at Latpadaung Copper Mining Project.
During the interview, the two talked about how the local police were being coerced into providing security for the project that is being run by the military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings (UMEH), China’s Wanbao Mining Limited and Yang Tze Copper Limited.
The officers also talked about the poor living conditions at the project site and said they preferred normal police duties instead of working as a security guard against their will, which pays 2,000 Kyat (US$ 2.34) a day.
According to their lawyer, police captain Aung Kyi Sein has been transferred to Kachin state and lance coporal Aung Win Htun to Chin state.
“For now, we’ve only been told that [captain Aung Kyi Sein] is being transferred to Kachin state but we still don’t know where. He was ordered to go there immediately and just by himself,” said the lawyer.
He said the two have not been demoted but said it was unlikely that they would be promoted in the future.
During his first public press conference on 21 October, President Thein Sein reminded government workers not to be afraid to voice their true opinions to the media.
