Son-in-law of former Myanmar dictator arrested for criticising current regime

Myanmar’s military regime announced on Thursday that it has arrested Dr. Nay Soe Maung, the son-in-law of former dictator Than Shwe, for writing “destabilising” comments on social media. In a statement, the junta’s Ministry of Information said the owner of a Facebook account under the name of Dr. Nay Soe Maung was arrested and charged in Mandalay’s Pyigyitagon Township on Wednesday. The exact charges were not specified, but the statement referred to several laws, including the Counterterrorism Law, that could be applied to comments “amplifying the propaganda” of the National Unity Government and other anti-regime “terrorist” organisations. The arrest comes nearly two weeks after Nay Soe Maung wrote his last Facebook post, dated October 11, about a donation he made to flood victims in Bago Region’s Tantabin Township. Four days earlier, he expressed his condolences on the death of Mandalay Region’s ousted chief minister, Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, who died of leukaemia on October 7 after more than three and a half years in junta custody. “If reborn in the next life, may it be in a country that is free, just, and treats people with human dignity, and may you continue to carry the welfare of humanity,” he wrote. According to a source close to Nay Soe Maung, the arrest was likely linked to his response to a question about whether Than Shwe would admonish the current junta leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, for his actions since seizing power. “The remark was slightly severe, so he deleted it, but it was too late,” the source said, adding that a number of Nay Soe Maung’s close friends have turned off their phones and gone into hiding since the arrest. The offending comment reportedly referred to Min Aung Hlaing as “a monkey that you raised that comes back to haunt you,” and says that trying to appeal to his reason is “like playing a harp to a buffalo.” Nay Soe Maung is married to Than Shwe’s daughter, Kyi Kyi Shwe, and is the father of Nay Shwe Thway Aung, regarded as the former dictator’s favourite grandson. Unlike his father, who has made a number of critical comments online about the junta that seized power on February 1, 2021, Nay Shwe Thway Aung stopped using social media just days before the coup.In the days after the takeover, Nay Soe Maung posted a photo of himself on Facebook expressing support for anti-coup protesters, saying that as a retired public official, he stood with the public and the truth.

Son-in-law of former Myanmar dictator arrested for criticising current regime

Dr. Nay Soe Maung has been outspoken in his criticism of the current regime since it seized power more than three years ago

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