Former National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmaker U Win Myint Aung is being interrogated by the civilian National Unity Government after being arrested by Sagaing Region resistance forces for allegedly collaborating with the junta, said NUG spokesman U Nay Phone Latt.
U Win Myint Aung was detained by the People’s Defense Force under the NUG’s Ministry of Defense and handed over to the People’s Security Force (PSF) for questioning, the spokesman said.
“We have received complaints against him. He will be punished in line with the law if he is found guilty, or released if he is found innocent. We will find out soon,” the NUG spokesman told The Irrawaddy.
The former NLD central executive committee member was living in Saipyin village in Sagaing’s Depayin Township, and was arrested by a local resistance group on June 8 while travelling to visit his jailed brother in Shwebo.
A member of Depayin Township PDF said they had evidence that U Win Myint Aung collaborated with the junta’s military following the coup. Documents asking junta authorities to provide help for local people affected by May’s Cyclone Mocha were also found in his possession at the time of arrest, he said.
“U Win Myint Aung signed a document promising not to participate in anti-junta activities and has acted according to the wishes of the regime. Resistance forces arrested him in response to complaints from the public. He was handed over to the PSF on June 7, and we heard that [NUG’s] Home Affairs Ministry is interrogating him,” the spokesman said.
The former lawmaker, who represented Depayin Township in the Lower House, went into hiding in the wake of the February 2021 coup. Junta troops raided his house on August 18, 2021, and arrested his wife, one of his sons, and his younger brother, U Hsan Lin. All three were given prison sentences.
U Win Myint Aung’s wife and son were released on January 4 in a junta amnesty. His younger brother remains behind bars.
The NLD’s central executive committee expelled U Win Myint Aung along with members U Phyo Min Thein, Daw Sandar Min and U Toe Lwin in March for allegedly misusing the party’s name and collaborating with the junta.
A few days before the NLD was dissolved by the junta in March, U Win Myint Aung and another ex-NLD member visited Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw Prison where the ousted State Counselor is being held. However, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi refused to meet with them.
U Win Myint Aung is the first former NLD lawmaker to be arrested by an NUG-affiliated group. He is reportedly under house arrest at a friend’s home and is in good health.
