Employees at a state-owned pharmaceutical factory are rallying in support of their boss, an accomplished microbiologist, as he faces what they say are unfair corruption charges that could land him in prison for 10 years.

Dr Aung Zaw, general manager of the Burma Pharmaceutical Industry (BPI) factory in Yangon’s Insein township, was charged under the Anti-Corruption Law last week in relation to a purchase of raw materials that authorities say was improper.

The Anti-Corruption Commission has accused Aung Zaw of mismanaging public funds and state property and breaching rules and regulations. He was arrested and interrogated at Insein police station on September 6 and has been held in custody since then.

The charge relates to the purchase of 26 tonnes of plastic pellets used to make 660,000 bags for intravenous drip fluid that were sold to government hospitals.

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In December last year a company named Suntec won a tender to supply plastic pellets made by a firm called LG Chem to BPI.

But Suntec was unable to supply the raw materials from LG Chem, so Aung Zaw agreed to let the company use pellets they already had in stock made by the Korean conglomerate Lotte.

That, say anti-corruption officials, went against the terms of the tender and breached a law punishing graft in the public sector.

Aung Zaw’s supporters believe his arrest is unfair. The factory ran tests on the Lotte pellets to check they were safe, according to company documents that defence lawyers plan to submit as evidence.

He went ahead with the order because the factory was out of raw materials and he was worried they would have to stop production, said Thein Oo, the factory’s deputy general manager.

“He didn’t do it to benefit himself,” he said.

“He might have gone about it the wrong way but he didn’t do it for his own profit. He was worried patients wouldn’t have enough medical supplies since he’s a doctor himself. If we hadn’t gone ahead it would have been hard to hit the factory’s production target.”

About 100 employees from the factory, which has about 1,700 staff, gathered at Insein Court wearing their uniforms to show their support for Aung Zaw at his first hearing last week.

They waved placards reading, “Let’s support the selfless general manager” and shielded him with umbrellas and raincoats to prevent journalists from taking photos as he entered and left the court.

“The family does not want the public to see the pictures of him during the trial. They only want the public to see him after the case is resolved and he clears his name,” said Thein Oo.

One of the supporters, security officer Tun Tun Naing, told Myanmar Now that Aung Zaw is a moral person and he made the purchase to keep production going at the factory.

Dr Nanda Win, chief of Hsipaw hospital and also a supporter, said he did not know the details of the suit filed against Aung Zaw but he feared the country would lose a passionate scholar who excelled in his profession.

“He is a very hard-working microbiologist. He was the one who improved the quality of anti-cancer drugs produced here, and he works hard to make sure we have enough antivenom for snake bites across the country,” he told Myanmar Now.

The Anti-Corruption Commission said in a statement that it acknowledged Aung Zaw’s achievements and the show of support he had received. But it added that it must prioritise the public interest over the interests of a single department.

There was strong evidence of wrongdoing against him and the commission was acting to protect the public in the long run, it said.

The BPI factory makes 200 different kinds of medicines and medical products for the health and defence ministries including HIV and hepatitis drugs, antibiotics and hand sanitizer.