Ousted Mon State chief minister sentenced to two more years in prison on abuse of power charges

A special court inside Mon State’s Kyaikmaraw Prison has sentenced the ousted Mon State chief minister, Dr. Aye Zan, to two years in prison for abuse of power and embezzlement during Myanmar’s 2020 general election.

By DMG 07 Dec 2022

DMG Newsroom
7 December 2022, Kyaikmaraw, Mon State

A special court inside Mon State’s Kyaikmaraw Prison has sentenced the ousted Mon State chief minister, Dr. Aye Zan, to two years in prison for abuse of power and embezzlement during Myanmar’s 2020 general election. 

The military council had charged Dr. Aye Zan with two counts under Section 171(f) of the Penal Code. A person close to the special court said he was sentenced to one year in prison for each count. 

According to lawyers with knowledge of the case, Dr. Aye Zan is preparing to appeal the court’s sentence. 

“Dr. Aye Zan is a little thin because he has been in prison for so long, but his health is good,” a source close to the former chief minister said. 

Dr. Aye Zan was arrested after the military seized power on February 1, 2021. He is currently incarcerated in Kyaikmaraw Prison, where he is already serving a combined sentence of more than 20 years in prison on graft and other charges. Critics of the regime have pointed to hundreds of cases, including the Mon State chief minister’s legal travails, that they say are trumped up, politically motivated efforts to use the courts to stifle dissent.