Thura Aung Ko, a former minister in Myanmar’s ousted civilian government, was permitted to leave Yangon’s Insein Prison briefly on Monday for medical treatment at an external hospital.
A source close to the 74-year-old, who was sentenced in March to 12 years in prison for alleged corruption, said the treatment was for diabetes and a worsening rash.
While he also requires ongoing medical attention for other conditions, including anemia and enlargement of the heart, he usually receives it at the prison hospital, the source said.
A former army general, Aung Ko served as religious affairs minister under the elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government that was forced from power by a military coup in February of last year.
Arrested on the day of the takeover, he later became the first NLD cabinet member to be formally charged with corruption as part of the newly installed regime’s push to neutralise its rivals.
Despite his military background and his previous position as a central executive committee member of the Union Solidarity and Development Party, the army’s political proxy, Aung Ko angered his fellow generals by backing the NLD’s calls for amendments to Myanmar’s military-drafted 2008 Constitution.
He is also hated by many in the military for abolishing Ma Ba Tha, an ultranationalist group led by rogue monk Wirathu, who was arrested in November 2020 during Aung Ko’s tenure as minister for religious affairs.
On March 14, the same day that he was sentenced to 12 years in prison after being found guilty on multiple charges of corruption, his sentence was reduced by half.
It was also around this time that his family was informed that he was suffering from severe anemia and had required four blood transfusions. They were also told at the time that he wouldn’t be allowed to receive treatment outside of the prison.
