This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.
In a daring escape from a prison in Myanmar last month, 10 inmates wrestled guns away from guards, got into a gunfight and sped away on stolen motorcycles, one of the former prisoners told Radio Free Asia.
Junta authorities acknowledged the jailbreak at Taungoo Prison, in the Bago region in central Myanmar, saying police were searching for the escapees.
But the de facto leader of the inmates, Baydar, who goes by one name, gave RFA Burmese a first-hand account of what happened, saying it all unfolded as the prisoners – some of whom were facing a death sentence – were being taken from their cells to a small courtroom within the prison walls go on trial.
Secret trials inside prisons have become a common practice in Myanmar, where the military took control of the country in a February 2021 coup d’etat, overthrowing the civilian government.
Baydar, a 30-year-old government telecommunications worker who had become a rebel fighter against the junta, had been captured in March and held in the prison since then, enduring frequent torture at the hands of guards seeking to extract information from him.
To protest the military takeover, he had quit his job, traveled to Kayah state in eastern Myanmar and joined the anti-junta People’s Defense Force – made up of civilians who have taken up arms against the military – where he underwent combat training.
“We realized that we could not protest peacefully because the soldiers are inhuman,” he told RFA. “From then on, we decided to take up arms to launch a revolution.”
Baydar started fighting the Burmese army and even formed an anti-junta militia called the Underground Revolution Knights Force.
Captured and tortured
In March, he was arrested, along with seven other PDF fighters, imprisoned and tortured.
“I was interrogated for five days in Yedashe police station,” he said, referring to a town in the Bago region. “If they weren’t satisfied with the answers, they beat me. I said ‘no’ because I didn’t do it, or they asked rubbish questions, but they beat me until I made an admission.”
“You had to admit every charge whether you committed it or not because you were afraid of being beaten,” he said.
In prison, Baydar constantly thought of ways to escape.
Six of the people he was arrested with were also at the prison, and together they secretly brainstormed about ways to get out.
Deposed President Win Myint, who was arrested in the coup, was also being held at Taungoo. Baydar and his inmate friends tried to come up with a way of bringing him out.
But one rough plan they devised had to be abandoned when word got around the prison they were planning a jailbreak.
“There was no one who could provide cover for us in the city,” Baydar said, referring to Taungoo. “We trusted no one to ask for help to give us cover.”
One-time shot
On May 18, Baydar and about 20 other prisoners were taken to a small building that acts as a courthouse.
Normally, there is a heavy amount of security when trials are held, but on that day there were only two prison guards at the gate and seven other policemen nearby, he said.
Baydar and others noticed that one police officer had a revolver, and a rifle was laying upon a bench.
Several of the prisoners discreetly started talking among themselves.
“We would get such an opportunity only once,” he said “We could not get it again.”
Suddenly, one prisoner grabbed the officer’s revolver, and another inmate pinned down a second officer so they could get the rifle.
“And then we wrestled with those guards,” he said.
Gunfire erupted as police officers started firing at the prisoners, who fired back, wounding some of the officers. Baydar collected more guns from them.
“The sergeant tried to get back his gun, so I had to shoot him in the chest,” he said.
Since the small courtroom was already outside the prison wall, the ten prisoners were able to escape much more easily. Quickly locating some motorcycles nearby, they pleaded with the owners to let them ride away – and sped away from the prison.
“We didn’t have time to explain to them about our organizations, so they might think we were rude,” he said. “And we were holding weapons.
“But without using harsh words, we apologized by supplicating with palms togethers to promise that we would return the motorcycles at an appropriate time,” he said.
They drove into the nearby jungle, where they have since re-joined PDF units.
After the escape, there were reports that one prisoner was interrogated and tortured. Families and other sources close to the prisons have said that political inmates are now being treated more harshly.
“When I was arrested, the military council made us feel intimidated. From there, I stood firmly on my belief and tried to make the impossible possible,” Baydar said.
“What I would like to say is that our revolution won’t take that long if the people participate in big numbers.”
