Case Study Sayadaw Ashin Sobhita (Alinka Kyal), a Buddhist monk who was facing a lawsuit under article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law for two years for critiquing the military under former civilian governments, was detained in handcuffs in Pathein Gyi township, Mandalay Region on the morning of 1 February 2021 after storming the fence entrance to a monastery where he lived.9 The regime troops rammed vehicles into an anti-coup street protest on 28 May 2021, arresting Ashin Rajinda, a monk lecturer from New Masoeyein Tite monastery in Mandalay. The monk was disrobed and sent to the interrogation centre inside Mandalay’s old palace after being beaten at his head by three regime soldiers. He recalled the situation as follows in an interview with Myanmar Now. “They told me to squat down, then jump like a frog. They also told me to kneel on the scorched Al- phast road. Imagine how it hurts to knee-walk in a rush, holding your hands on your head! It lasted about 30 minutes until we arrived at the hall we were about to imprison. If we walked too slowly, they beat us with a baton.” Sayadaw U Siri Nanda, U Vilasa, U Suchetta, U Rivata and U Viriya Dhamma were arrested after being hit by a private car while participating in a protest in Sein Pan quarter, Mahaaungmyay township, Mandalay in October 2021.10 They were sentenced to three years in prison under section 505 (a) of the Penal Code in June 2021. The military coup leaders who always claim to protect race and religion are always brutally persecuting and murdering anyone who opposes them. At least five Buddhist monks were killed due to the military raids and shootings by the military following the coup. A protest near UN office in Yangon seen on 10th February, 2021. စစ််ကော�ာင််စီီပါးး�စပ််က ဘုုရား�းဘုုရား�း၊ လက််က ကားး�ယားး�ကားး�ယားး�. (2021, July 26). Myanmar Now. https://www.myanmar-now.org/mm/news/7584 ibid 9 10 8