Facebook post lands former military leader’s son-in-law in jail – Firstpost

Myanmar security forces have arrested the son-in-law of the country’s former military ruler Than Shwe for allegedly posting inflammatory statements on his Facebook account, state media said on Friday.

Nay Soe Maung, a 67-year-old retired colonel and former army medical officer, was the most recently arrested and sentenced to prison for writing Facebook posts that allegedly spread inflammatory news.

His arrest came two weeks after he published criticism of the current military leader and condolences for the death of Zaw Myint Maung, a senior member of the former ruling party whose government was ousted during the 2021 military takeover.

State leadership The Mirror Daily the newspaper said Nay Soe Maung was detained and questioned on Wednesday at a police station in Pyigyidagun township in Mandalay, the country’s second largest city.

Friday’s report said people who incite or share propaganda and support for opposition groups on social media will be prosecuted under the country’s laws, including against terrorism, electronic transactions, sedition and incitement.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on 1 February 2021. The military takeover sparked mass public protests to which the military and police responded with lethal force, sparking armed resistance and violence that escalated into a civil war.
Myanmar’s military leadership is known for being tight-knit, secretive and sensitive.

Data for Myanmar, an independent research group, said in a report last month that some 1,691 people had been detained for criticizing the military regime and showing support for opposition groups on social media since the army takeover.

Nay Soe Maung is married to a daughter of dictator Than Shwe, who ruled from 1992 until 2011, when he handed over power to a nominally civilian, pro-military government. During his rule, he led a feared junta that brutally crushed dissent and routinely jailed political opponents, including Suu Kyi, the charismatic face of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement.

Nay Soe Maung was a lecturer and rector of the University of Public Health in Yangon, the country’s largest city, after retiring as an army doctor.

Before the military takeover in 2021, he advocated expressly for the previous government led by Aung San Suu Kyi and joined peaceful protests in the streets of Yangon after the military arrested her during the takeover.
Days before his arrest, he sent his condolences for the death of Zaw Myint Maung, Suu Kyi’s colleague and spokesperson for her NLD party.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.)