The son-in-law of Myanmar's former strongman is arrested over Facebook posts

BANGKOK – Myanmar security forces have arrested the son-in-law of the country's former longtime 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 most recently arrested and detained for writing Facebook posts that allegedly spread inflammatory messages.

His arrest came two weeks after he criticized the current military leader and expressed condolences over the death of Zaw Myint Maung, a senior member of Myanmar's former ruling party whose government was toppled during the 2021 military takeover.

State-run newspaper The Mirror Daily reported that Nay Soe Maung was arrested and prosecuted on Wednesday at a police station in Pyigyidagun township in Mandalay, the country's second-largest city.

Friday's report said individuals who spread incitement or spread propaganda and support for opposition groups on social media will be prosecuted under the country's laws, including counterterrorism, electronic transactions, sedition and incitement.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021. The army's seizure of power sparked mass public protests, to which the military and police responded with lethal force, leading to armed resistance and violence has escalated into civil war.

Myanmar's military leadership is known for its close ties, secrecy and sensitivity.

Data for Myanmar, an independent research group, said in a report last month that about 1,691 people have been arrested since the army seized power for criticizing the military regime and supporting opposition groups on social media.

Nay Soe Maung is married to a daughter of dictator Than Shwe, who ruled from 1992 to 2011, when he handed over power to a nominally civilian, pro-military government. During his rule, he led a fearsome junta that brutally suppressed dissent and regularly 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 army's takeover in 2021, he explicitly supported the previous government of Aung San Suu Kyi and took part in peaceful protests on the streets of Yangon after the military detained them during the takeover.

Days before his arrest, he expressed condolences over the death of Zaw Myint Maung, Suu Kyi's colleague and spokesman for her NLD party.