Family criticises ousted Arakan State chief minister’s sentence

By DMG 12 Oct 2021

DMG Newsroom
12 October 2021, Sittwe 

Former Arakan State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu should not have been given the maximum sentence by the Sittwe Township Court under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code, his family members said. 

The Sittwe Township Court on October 8 sentenced ousted Arakan State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu to two years in prison with labour in a case brought against him under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code following an eight-month trial. 

“I think the sentence is unacceptable,” said Ma Kyi Kyi Oo, the former chief minister’s daughter. 

U Nyi Pu has not been allowed to meet with his family since his arrest. 

He was arrested along with other leaders of the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government when the military seized power in a coup on February 1. 

The Tatmadaw regime released him after two days and placed him under house arrest, but again took him away on February 10 after he criticised the coup on social media the day prior. 

The Sittwe Township deputy administrator, U Kyaw Thein, opened the lawsuit against him and the Sittwe Township Court charged the deposed chief minister in February. 

U Myo Myat Hein, a lawyer with the Thazin Legal Aid Group, which was involved in the case, said he hoped for a better legal outcome to U Nyi Pu’s case. 

“I will meet with the ex-chief minister to decide whether he will submit an appeal to the court or not,” U Myo Myat Hein added. 

The former Arakan State chief minister also faces charges under Myanmar’s Anti-Corruption Law. 

Former economic minister U Kyaw Aye Thein; former Minister for Electricity and Transport U Aung Kyaw Zan; former Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Mining U Kyaw Lwin; and former Minister for Municipal Affairs U Min Aung have been charged under the Anti-Corruption Law since the coup. 

Former Arakan State Minister for Municipal Affairs U Min Aung was sentenced to two years and two months in prison by the Taungup Township Court on September 17 under Section 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, and Section 25 of the Natural Disaster Management Law.