Junta-appointed Myanmar Ambassador to Laos former Major General Myat Thet Oo has been purged and sentenced to 10 years in jail, according to sources.
Myat Thet Oo was recalled to Naypyitaw, removed from his post and tried by a military tribunal, which gave him 10 years.
“Perhaps he did something wrong that angered [junta boss] Min Aung Hlaing. He was punished retrospectively,” a source in Naypyitaw told The Irrawaddy.
Part of the 38th intake of the Defense Services Academy, Myat Thet Oo became the chief of the Myanmar military’s Northern Command, which oversees Kachin State and is based in its capital, Myitkyina, following the coup. He was transferred to the Southeastern Command based in Mon State’s Mawlamyine around the end of 2022 and became ambassador to Laos in June last year.
The Irrawaddy is still trying to determine what charges Myat Thet Oo was convicted of. His removal follows the recent sacking and jailing of a number of military and other junta officials posted to Kachin State.
In July last year, Major General Ko Ko Maung was removed as chief of the Northern Command and was later given 10 years by a military tribunal. He previously served as the chief of the Southeastern Command before he was transferred to the Northern Command in August 2022.
Along with 33rd Light Infantry Division (LID) chief Brigadier General Ko Ko Lwin, 88th LID chief Colonel Soe Htut, Kachin State Security and Border Affairs Minister Colonel Aung Kyi Lin and some other military commanders, Ko Ko Maung was summoned to Naypyitaw in July and questioned over his involvement in illegal mining in Myanmar’s jade hub, Hpakant in Kachin State.
They were all accused of selling dynamite for mining, and receiving bribes in exchange for gold and gem mining licenses in prohibited areas.
After two weeks of interrogation, all of them were removed from their posts. Lieutenant General Teza Kyaw, the chief of the No. 1 Bureau of Special Operations, which oversees Northern Command, Northeastern Command and Central Command, was also questioned and purged.
