Former Arakan State chief minister and cabinet colleague face additional charge

By DMG 22 Dec 2021

DMG Newsroom
22 December 2021, Sittwe 

Deposed Arakan State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu and the state’s former minister for municipal affairs, U Min Aung, have been hit with an additional charge under Section 130(a) of the Penal Code, according to their lawyer. 

U Thurein Htut, secretary of the Arakan State election subcommission, filed the charge with the Sittwe Township Court. 

The court on Wednesday took note of the additional charge in a teleconference hearing, said U Aye Kyaw Than, a lawyer with the Thazin Legal Institute who is involved in the case. 

The next hearing at which the new charge under Section 130(a) will be addressed has been scheduled for January 15 and the power of attorney will be submitted on that day, the lawyer added. 

The latest Penal Code charges against U Nyi Pu and U Aung Min come on top of an ongoing corruption case against the two ex-ministers, along with three of their former cabinet colleagues. 

Ex-Arakan State ministers U Kyaw Aye Thein, U Aung Kyaw Zan, and U Kyaw Lwin were charged along with U Nyi Pu and U Aung Min under the Anti-Corruption Law after the military coup that toppled the National League for Democracy (NLD) government of which they were a part on February 1. 

U Thurein Htut declined to comment on the new charges brought against U Nyi Pu and U Aung Min.  

“I cannot say at the moment. I will comment when the case is officially announced,” he said. 

The corruption case against the five former ministers, including the ousted chief minister of Arakan State, was heard on December 22 at a special court in Sittwe Prison, with four defence witnesses testifying, U Aye Kyaw Than said. 

The remaining witnesses are due to testify on December 29. 

“The remaining witnesses will give testimony at the next court hearing. There are a few cases to hear witnesses’ testimonies,” he said. 

U Nyi Pu is facing multiple counts under Myanmar’s Anti-Corruption Law, and has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour in another case in which he was convicted under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code, an incitement provision. 

U Min Aung, meanwhile, has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour in a case prosecuted under Section 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, and another two months’ imprisonment for a case under Section 25 of the Natural Disaster Management Law.