Independent MP candidate running against Suu Kyi arrested for sedition

A businessman who plans to run as an independent candidate against State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in this year’s election has been arrested for sedition after holding a press conference attacking her and the National League for Democracy. 

Htay Aung, who has become well-known for his barbed attacks against the ruling party and its leader, was detained on August 21, an officer from the Yangon police force said.

He was charged under section 124a of the penal code in Pazundaung township, remanded at the Yangon Eastern District Court and sent to Insein prison the same day, the officer said. His first hearing has been set for September 1. 

The law carries a maximum sentence of 20 years and a fine. 

Htay Aung has said he planned to run independently in the upcoming election for the Kawhmu constituency, against Aung San Suu Kyi. The election commission has said he cannot be removed as a candidate. 

On August 8 he held a press conference in Yangon at the Orchid Hotel, which he owns, to accuse the NLD-led government of receiving an unfair advantage in the election with international support. 

A Yangon Eastern District Court spokesperson confirmed in an exchange with Myanmar Now on Wednesday that Htay Aung was charged because of that press conference.

Htay Aung also filed a complaint against the State Counsellor on August 12 asking for her to be disqualified as a candidate and claiming the NLD was receiving “financial support from international organisations”. But the local election commission turned it down.

When asked about Htay Aung’s arrest, NLD spokesperson Dr Myo Nyunt said the party has not filed a case, and party members were not assigned to file a case against him.

After the press conference on August 8, Htay Aung streamed a live 37-minute video on Facebook that, he wrote, was an “explanation about how the chairpersons and leaders from political parties are taking international support” to help them in the upcoming election. 

In the press conference, he also said the government was threatening to ruin the country by following the recommendations of a 2016 report on Rakhine state led by former UN General Secretary Kofi Annan.

“[The country] is now in a state where it can be ruined. But, fortunately, Kofi Annan has passed away and the implementations are also getting weakened,” he said. “But we cannot say they are gone. Because the government still often refers to his recommendations,” he added. 

He also accused the NLD of taking financial support from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and said that George Soros’s family has influence over the government, which he said had put people in power who are manipulating the country. 

As he listed the accusations, a large screen showed pictures of Annan, Soros and Aung San Suu Kyi.