A US court has convicted Myanmar national Phyo Hein Htut of conspiring to seriously injure or kill the country’s ambassador to the United Nations, U Kyaw Moe Tun, a vocal critic of the junta’s rule.
Phyo Hein Htut and compatriot Ye Hein Zaw, both in their 20s and residents of New York, were arrested by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in mid-2021 on suspicion of plotting to harm U Kyaw Moe Tun. According to the US Attorney’s Office, the pair planned to hire assailants to force U Kyaw Moe Tun to resign and, if he refused, to kill him.
Phyo Hein Htut was a member of the volunteer security team of Myanmar’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations and passed information regarding the ambassador and Myanmar’s Permanent Mission to the UN to an arms broker in Thailand who did business with the Myanmar military junta. He received money from the arms broker to hire attackers to hurt the ambassador in an attempt to force him to step down from the post, according to a statement issued by the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York on July 24. However, in the end, he didn’t carry out the plan and informed the Permanent Mission of the plot.
“While volunteering on a security team at Myanmar’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Phyo Hein Htut betrayed the person he was supposed to be protecting by secretly feeding information about the Ambassador, the Mission, and its personnel to an arms dealer in furtherance of a plot to hurt the Ambassador. The jury’s unanimous verdict holds him to account for his actions,” Damian Williams, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in the statement.
Phyo Hein Htut was found guilty after eight days of hearings before US district judge Nelson S. Roman. Sentencing is scheduled for March 14, 2024, the US Attorney’s Office said.
He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on charges of conspiring to attack a foreign official.
Ye Hein Zaw confessed to participating in the plot. He was convicted in 2021 and served his sentence. He is also subject to deportation, according to U Kyaw Moe Tun.
The ambassador told The Irrawaddy that he was informed of the ruling against Phyo Hein Htut on Friday night by the Department of Justice.
“I thanked him [Phyo Hein Htut] as he did not carry out the plot and informed us about it. However, on the other hand, we always say that there must be rule of law and as it happened on American soil, we urged that the case be prosecuted according to their laws,” he said.
He said he is happy with the ruling as it served as a lesson for those who try to commit crimes, and reminded such people of the value of repenting for their wrongdoing.
“We all need to work to ensure justice prevails not only in the United States, but also in Myanmar. If we work collectively and in a united way in the fight against the evil actions of the military dictators, we will be able to end the military dictatorship and restore democracy as well as justice and rule of law more quickly in our country,” he added.
As ambassador, U Kyaw Moe Tun has refused to obey the junta’s orders and has supported the pro-democracy movement.
Following his public opposition to military rule at an informal UN General Assembly meeting in February 2021, the Myanmar military junta dismissed him, accusing him of high treason. The junta has also tried to remove him from his post and replace him, but in vain so far, as the UN has rejected its efforts.
U Kyaw Moe Tun remains Myanmar’s ambassador to the UN, where he currently represents the National Unity Government formed by lawmakers from the ousted government and ethnic minority representatives.
