A junta court this week sentenced ousted religious affairs minister Thura Aung Ko to 12 years in prison for corruption, more than a year after he was detained in early morning raids as the February 1 military coup unfolded.
The 75-year-old was sentenced by a court inside Insein Prison on Tuesday after the junta accused him of awarding religious titles to people in exchange for bribes, and of keeping a gold plate that was supposed to be donated to a pagoda.
He has not been allowed to see his family since he was detained, one of his daughters told Myanmar Now, asking not to be named. The daughter said she had received word from the prison that her father was in poor health and suffering frequent bouts of illness.
“I think he’s been missing his medications as he has become quite forgetful since he’s 75 years old,” she said. Aung Ko suffers from anemia and diabetes and the family is worried that he is not eating properly, even though they are allowed to send him a food parcel once a fortnight.
Aung Ko is a former Brigadier General who also held a top post in the military’s proxy party, the USDP, before joining the National League for Democracy (NLD) government in 2016.
During his tenure he drew the ire of both ultra-nationalists and the military by abolishing the anti-Muslim hate group Ma Ba Tha. He also supported amending the military’s 2008 constitution and was a key figure in the move to prosecute the hate-preaching monk Wirathu during the NLD’s tenure.
The junta accused him of receiving 10 million kyat (roughly $7,000) in July 2020 and 30 million kyat in March the same year in exchange for giving people religious titles. It also said that he had been given a Ford Everest Titanium luxury vehicle worth more than 100 million kyat ($70,000) in December 2019 by a businessman.
He is also cursed of keeping a golden plate weighing 326 grams that was meant to be donated to the Htarwara Nyein Chan Yay, or Perpetual Peace, pagoda, which was built by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw.
His daughter said she had been communicating with her father via his lawyer about whether or not he wants to appeal the sentence. “I just want to see him, maybe even for a moment, so that I can encourage him.”
