After he was deported to the United States after being detained for three months, he said that Myanmar security forces punched, kicked and beat an American journalist and had him blindfolded for more than a week of interrogation.

Nathan Maung, 44, the editor-in-chief of the online news platform Kamayut Media, was detained in a raid on March 9 and released on June 15. His colleague Hanthar Nyein is still in custody and has been subjected to more severe torture like everyone else. Maung said he met in prison.

“They have been kicking our faces, hands and shoulders,” Maung, who was born in Myanmar, told CNN. “For every answer, they defeated us. Whether our answer was correct or wrong, they defeated us. Three days, uninterrupted.”

A military spokesperson did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment on Maung’s account, which echoes the views of some of the thousands who have been detained since the army overthrew the elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi In February.

The Myanmar military stated that detainees are treated in accordance with the law, but as the military strives to consolidate control of a rebel country, it has Arrested reporter with Start targeting lawyers Protect political prisoners.

Myanmar security forces arbitrarily detained thousands of people who resisted in February and Many people were torturedAccording to a report by Human Rights Watch on June 22, beatings and ill-treatment.

“The first three to four days are the worst,” Maung told Reuters in a telephone interview in Virginia.

“I was slapped several times. No matter what I said, they slapped me. They slapped my eardrums with their hands many times. They punched my cheekbones on both sides. They slapped me on the shoulder. I’m not allowed to stand up. My legs are swollen. I can’t move anymore,” he said.

Maung was born in Myanmar and fled to the United States as a refugee in the 1990s. He said he was arrested in the office of Kamayut Media and was asked about his publications, his role there and how it works.

“They handcuffed my hands behind my back, tied my eyes with a cloth, and then covered it with another cloth,” he said.

“They didn’t let me sleep for three or four days. The interrogations kept going. There was no time to sleep,” he said. He said that after they discovered that he was a US citizen, the beatings decreased on the fourth day.

“On the eighth day, a colonel came, and he took off the cloth covering my eyes,” Maung said.

Some “experienced worse torture”

The U.S. Embassy said Maung was met by U.S. officials after his release, who helped him and his family.

It said it continues to be deeply concerned about the detention American reporter Danny WindowAccording to Finster’s brother, he was detained more than a month ago and was allowed to talk to the US Embassy for the first time last week.

Maung said that the colonel recorded his testimony and asked him if he had any statements to make-the editor asked to respect his human rights and asked him to have a lawyer to defend him in response to any allegations.

Maung said that the colonel told him that he had not been charged with any crime and that he would be released when the situation calmed down.

During his detention, Maung said he met other people who had been abused and heard people yelling, begging and screaming from other buildings.

“Some people have experienced more severe torture than us. Someone stayed with me in the same room for two days. His body was covered with bruises and scars. They put his handcuffed hands on the table and beat him. Hands.

“The bone was not broken, but he was badly injured and his skin was torn off.”

Kamayut Media stopped publishing after being arrested, but Maung said he plans to resume work.

The militant group of the Political Prisoners Aid Association stated that since the coup, more than 6,000 people have been charged or sentenced after being detained. Since then, security forces have killed at least 883 people. The military disputed this figure.