Pyae Phyo Naing, a police inspector who was arrested while serving as head of Aung San Suu Kyi’s personal security team, was released from Yamethin Prison in Mandalay Region on Wednesday, according to a prison source.
Detained with Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021, the day of the coup that ousted her from power, he was initially held under house arrest in Naypyitaw and then transferred to Yamethin Prison, located some 90km north of the junta’s capital, later that year.
He was reportedly handed a three-year prison sentence on charges of “violating police rules and regulations” in January of last year.
A source close to the prison told Myanmar Now that Pyae Phyo Naing was released simply because he had completed his sentence.
“They didn’t just release him for no reason. They had to let him go because he had served his time, minus the time ordinarily deducted in accordance with the Prison Law,” said the source.
The police inspector was said to be in good health when he returned to his family’s home on Wednesday afternoon. No further details were available at the time of reporting.
Aung San Suu Kyi herself has been sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison on 19 charges, including 12 based on accusations of corruption during her time in office.
Aung Naing Oo, the deputy head of Suu Kyi’s security team, is currently serving a 15-year sentence at Yamethin Prison on espionage and terrorism charges for allegedly sharing military-related information with anti-junta forces.
Cherry Htet, a police sub-lieutenant at Special Branch who acted as Suu Kyi’s bodyguard, was arrested in September 2021 for allegedly writing Facebook posts in support of the deposed leader.
She was sentenced to three years in prison for violating police regulations in December 2021 and to two more years for incitement in March of the following year. She was transferred from Naypyitaw to Yamethin Prison after the second conviction.
