Myanmar’s regime has reportedly sentenced Brigadier General Min Maung to 10 years in prison after he failed to defend Kokang on the Chinese border during Operation 1027 in northern Shan State last year.
On January 4, almost 2,400 regime troops, including more than 200 officers and led by six different brigadier generals, surrendered to the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in the self-administered zone.
It was the biggest single defeat for junta forces since the 2021 coup and handed the whole of Kokang to the MNDAA.
Min Maung refused to surrender and retreated along with 350 comrades and was flown by helicopter to Infantry Battalion 33 in Tangyan Township, Shan State.
The two-month-long military tribunal in early May sentenced the former general to 10 years in jail, a source told The Irrawaddy.
No further details were provided.
Observers speculated that he was either charged for retreating from his Kokang base without permission or for taking bribes from online scams operating in Hopang, northern Shan State.
In late January, the junta handed death sentences to three of the Kokang brigadier generals and jailed the other three for surrendering to the MNDAA.
Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has recently reshuffled the military commanders of Tanintharyi Region and the capital, Naypyitaw.
