Three months after his arrest for denouncing the coup regime, a military tribunal sentenced an army doctor to death in August for supporting the anti-junta resistance, according to sources familiar with his case.
The military arrested captain Ye Yint Swe, 32, in May after a Facebook user saw comments he had allegedly posted criticising the regime and reported him to the authorities. Another medical officer serving in the military, who had knowledge of the matter, confirmed the sentence against him to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity.
Authorities found evidence of Ye Yint Swe’s support for anti-junta resistance forces while investigating his Facebook posts and inspecting his phone, the medical officer said. At the time of his arrest, he was enrolled in the third year of a master’s degree programme in medicine at the Defence Services Medical Academy in Yangon’s Mingaladon Township.
“We found out about the incident only after he was handed the death penalty. He was incommunicado for three months, and it was our first time hearing about him since his arrest,” the source told Myanmar Now.
Details about the charges brought against captain Ye Yint Swe remain unclear. He had graduated from a bachelor’s degree programme at the Defence Services Medical Academy in 2016, sources said.
Former army captain Zin Yaw, who defected to the resistance and joined the Civil Disobedience Movement in the wake of the 2021 coup, said that he had never heard of an army officer receiving a death sentence before the incident involving Ye Yint Swe.
The move appeared to be aimed at instilling fear among military personnel and deterring further defections, he said.
“They could execute him as an example to others… so that soldiers won’t dare do the same as him or contact [resistance] groups,” the defecting officer said.
He added that military regime leader Min Aung Hlaing would have needed to sign off on such a severe sentence against an army officer. It is clear, therefore, that Ye Yint Swe’s sentence was handed down with the junta chief’s approval.
It is unknown whether captain Ye Yint Swe will be allowed to appeal the sentence or request a commutation to life imprisonment.
The army doctor’s sentence was handed down in the midst of intensified efforts and campaigns by Min Aung Hlaing and the junta leadership to reinforce unity within the military and ensure soldiers’ loyalty.
According to the publicly mandated shadow National Unity Government, over 3,200 soldiers and some 10,000 members of the junta police force have defected from the regime.
