A political prisoner who was arrested in Pathein prison was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Pathein prison court, people close to the Prisons Department said.

Some lawyers said that Ko Soe Paing Oo of Pathein town, Ward No. 10, who was arrested at Pathein prison in Ayeyarwady Region for allegedly transporting weapons, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

According to an informant close to the administration said, “ When they were arrested, no guns or bullets were found.”

A lawyer said “ He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. His wife, brother-in-law and niece were also sentenced to 5 years in prison each. The Pathein district judge made the decision. In the reading of the order, deducted the period of pre-trial detention from the length of their prison sentence.”

Ko Soe Paing Oo was arrested by the Military Council on December 2, 2021 and sentenced to prison on February 15 by Pathein prison court. That same day Ko Soe Paing Oo and other family members were arrested by the regime’s soldiers and police at his home in Setkone, Ward 10, Pathein town, some people close to the family said.

In this case it appears that as no evidence of weapons was presented by the state, the arrest and sentencing of his wife and relatives also had no legal basis.