Chairman Kyaw Myint of the United Democratic Party (UDP) also known as Rose Party was sent to Obo Prison in Mandalay after his arrest for being a long-lost fugitive, and he was brought to trial at Chanayethazan Township Court on October 2.
His trial came with a heavy police presence.
Police arrested him under a police warrant on the night of September 29 he was a jail escapee, said President Office spokesperson Zaw Htay.
Kyaw Myint was arrested in Yangon and handed over to Obo Prison in Mandalay from where he managed to escape.
Myanmar Now news agency reported that Kyaw Myint ran Myanmar Kyone Yeom Company. He was sentenced to nine years in prison in 1998 for violating the company's act and money laundering. After serving one year in prison, he managed to escape together with a lance corporal on duty while he was receiving treatment at Mandalay General Hospital on January 19, 1999.
After escaping from Obo Prison in Mandalay, he sought asylum in the US and Canada. He established the UDP in 2007 and applied to the Union Election Commission (UEC) for registration. The commission granted his party registration before the 2010 general election.
According to the UEC data, UDP is among the three political parties which are fielding the largest number of parliamentary candidates for the 2020 general election.
