U Win Khine, electricity and energy minister in the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government, died on Friday shortly after the junta granted him early release from prison on health grounds.
His death came a month after jailed NLD senior leader Dr. Zaw Myint Maung passed away in similar circumstances on Oct. 6. The ailing Dr. Zaw Myint Maung received a junta pardon as he lay on his death bed.
U Win Khine, 73, was diagnosed with clogged arteries, hypertension, diabetes and heart disease – health conditions that worsened during almost four years spent in Obo prison. After being moved to the Special Intensive Care Unit of Mandalay General Hospital, he was granted a junta pardon on Oct. 28. He passed away just 12 days later.
A mechanical engineer by profession, U Win Khine served as the electricity and energy minister in the NLD government from 2017 to Feb. 1. 2021, when he was arrested along with fellow NLD leaders, including President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, on the day of the military coup.
In December 2021, a regime court tried U Win Khine and his deputy, Dr. Tun Naing, for alleged corruption. The Naypyitaw court sentenced the ousted minister to 28 years in prison.
Observers pointed out that U Win Khine and his deputy had previously angered the military by ending their lucrative monopoly on the supply of electricity meters to the ministry. The military-owned Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) had supplied electricity meters without competition for a decade under the Thein Sein administration and the previous military regime, before the contract was put out to tender by the succeeding NLD government.
MEHL repeatedly failed to win the tenders, as its meters were deemed substandard or overpriced compared to competitors.
However, since the 2021 coup, the MEHL-linked Same Sky company has supplied the vast bulk of electricity meters to the regime-controlled Electricity Ministry, a source in the ministry told The Irrawaddy.