A former high-profile Myanmar army officer who had served as information minister and presidential spokesperson in a previous military-backed government has been arrested and charged with spreading false or inflammatory news
, a statement from the current military government said Sunday. In a statement sent to journalists, the military’s information office said 64-year old Ye Htut, a retired lieutenant colonel, was arrested for violating Section 505 of the penal code, a provision called “incitement,” for writing and spreading false news on his Facebook social media account.
The charge is frequently used against journalists and activists who displease the military, with the number of prosecutions soaring after the army’s 2021 takeover. News of Myanmar, an online media outlet sympathetic to the military, reported on its Telegram social media channel that Ye Htut was arrested Saturday night after a military officer from Yangon Regional Military Command filed a charge against him at a police station in Ahlone township in Yangon, the country’s largest city.