Ye Htut, who was information minister and presidential spokesperson in Myanmar’s previous military-backed government, has been arrested for “inciting” opposition to the current regime.
According to a junta statement, the retired lieutenant colonel was detained on Saturday evening and charged with incitement under Section 505(A) of the penal code, for writing and spreading false news on Facebook. Incitement carries punishment of up to three years in prison.
Ye Htut is being detained in Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison.
The 64-year-old was charged after posting messages that indirectly criticized the military regime and its leadership, prompting calls from pro-junta groups for his arrest.
However, many believe the immediate cause of his arrest was his Facebook comment a few weeks ago in which he mentioned the name of a former major, his contacts and the company he worked for.
The company turned out to be run by a young crony who was then shot dead in Yangon early this month by an urban guerrilla group, who said he was targeted for buying weapons for the junta.
Pro-junta groups accused Ye Htut of tipping off the guerrilla group and enabling the assassination. He later deleted the comment.
The son of a national police chief under Ne Win’s socialist regime, Ye Htut enrolled in the Defense Service Academy’s 22nd intake, where he met current junta No. 2 Soe Win and Yar Pyae, now the interior minister and believed to be behind his arrest.
He was transferred to the Information Ministry under Than Shwe’s military regime, before becoming information minister and presidential spokesperson during the military-backed Thein Sein administration, the predecessor of the National League for Democracy (NLD) government.
Though some observers call him a moderate, Ye Htut is an ex-officer who retains strong links with a military that has wreaked destruction on the country over successive periods.
When asked by The Irrawaddy following the NLD’s 2015 election victory if he would accept a position in the NLD cabinet, Ye Htut demonstrated his loyalty to the military by saying he would not play for “another team”.
After the 2015 poll, he wrote “Myanmar’s Political Transition and Lost Opportunities (2010-2016)”, a paean to his former boss ex-general Thein Sein whom he describes as a one-in-a-million reformist president who braved heavy criticism to transform Myanmar.
Since the 2021 election, he has traveled across the country, posting regular Facebook updates detailing his encounters with locals. The posts described how people he met were struggling to make a living and indirectly criticized regime boss Min Aung Hlaing’s leadership.
The posts prompted earlier rumors that he had been detained for annoying the junta. He also told close friends that his phone had been tapped. Observers however speculated that his friendship with junta No.2 Soe Win granted him immunity from legal action. But on October 28, he was arrested at his home in Yangon’s Ahlone Township.
Observers say Ye Htut’s tacit criticism of the regime does not extend to the military-drafted 2008 Constitution, which enshrines the military’s involvement in politics that led to the 2021 coup.
