Jailed Arakan State chief minister, cabinet colleague to face key decision in latest legal peril next month

By DMG 23 Feb 2022

DMG Newsroom
23 February 2022, Sittwe 

Ousted Arakan State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu and former Arakan State Municipal Affairs Minister U Min Aung, who are accused of violating election law, will be arraigned on March 3 to decide whether to prosecute them, according to sources close to the court. 

The two ex-ministers appeared before a special court in Sittwe Prison on Wednesday and a prosecution witness was examined during the hearing, said a source close to the court. 

“A prosecution witness was questioned at today’s court hearing, and two prosecution witnesses and a plaintiff have been examined so far. The next hearing has been scheduled for March 3 and we have to make an appeal on whether the two ministers should be prosecuted or not,” the source added. 

U Nyi Pu has been charged under Section 130(a) of the Penal Code and U Min Aung has been charged under Sections 130(a) and 109 of the Penal Code, according to their lawyer. 

“U Nyi Pu has been accused of breaching the election law and U Min Aung has been accused of abetting him,” U Win Aung, a lawyer from the Thazin Legal Aid Group, told DMG last month. 

For both defendants, the election law charges are the latest in a series of legal proceedings brought against them since the military’s coup on February 1, 2021. 

Charged under Myanmar’s Anti-Corruption Law, five former Arakan State ministers including U Nyi Pu were sentenced to lengthy prison terms on January 19 of this year. The court sentenced the ex-chief minister, former economic minister U Kyaw Aye Thein, and former Minister for Electricity and Transport U Aung Kyaw Zan to nine years in prison with hard labour. 

In addition, former Minister for Municipal Affairs U Min Aung was sentenced to seven years in prison with hard labour, and former Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Mining U Kyaw Lwin received three years in prison with hard labour. 

U Nyi Pu had previously been sentenced to two years in prison with hard labour under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code, which covers incitement, on October 8.