Detained Mandalay chief minister Dr Zaw Myint Maung received emergency medical treatment inside the city’s Obo Prison on Sunday night as he continued his fight against leukemia while standing trial on charges filed against him by the junta.
The 69-year-old former medical doctor, who like many senior members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) was detained in the early hours of February 1, became feverish and struggled to breath before being sent to the prison hospital, a source close to his family said.
“They had to sound the alarm to let his comrades held on the same ward know about his condition,” the source said. “It was just a fever.”
Zaw Myint Maung, who is also a vice chair of the NLD, was hit with two charges by the military council in the wake of the coup and is now expecting to be hit with five more under anti-corruption laws.
His hearings are being held twice a week at the Obo Prison court. During a hearing on Monday, which he attended while still feeling sick, he submitted an emergency request to receive further medical treatment for his fever.
The source said Zaw Myint Maung’s condition seemed bad during the hearing but then improved after he was given some food and took supplements.
The chief minister was sent to the Mandalay Public Hospital in August after he contracted Covid-19.
In 2019 he travelled to Bangkok to receive treatment for his leukemia. His family have had trouble getting his leukemia medication to him since he was detained, the source said.
“One of his cancer medications needs to be administered via an IV drip once a month, and another once a week,” the source said. “We were given approval to give him the monthly medication but we were only allowed to give the weekly medication once every two weeks.”
Zaw Myint Maung has been charged with incitement under Section 505b of the Penal Code and with breaching Covid-19 rules under Section 25 of the Natural Disaster Management Law.
His lawyers have yet to receive detailed information about the five corruption charges, which could mean additional decades added to his sentence.
Zaw Myint Maung won a seat as an MP for Mandalay’s Amarapura Township in the 1990 election, but the junta at the time annulled the results of that poll and jailed him for 19 years.
