A final verdict will be reached on November 12 against United Democratic Party (UDP) Chairman Kyaw Myint charged with escaping from jail, according to the Chanayethazar Township court in Mandalay Region.
The court will rule the decision in the next trial as both sides gave their statements on the trial on November 3.
“Today, we have finished the court hearing for Kyaw Myint charged with absconding from jail. On November, we will give a final verdict,” said township judge Kyaw Myo Win.
Kyaw Myint is also charged under the immigration law at the same court and two plaintiff witnesses were questioned. Bilateral statements for this case will also be given on November 12.
During the trial on October 23, he complained that his charges of jail escaping was not legal now as his jail sentence was at the time of the State Law and Order Restoration Council.
He said he was unfairly punished by the then government, claiming himself not be a jail escapee under the democratic government.
He denied he tried to escape from jail saying that the policeman walking outside together with him left behind him at a monastery. Then, two monks from the monastery transported him to Myawady in Kayin State by car. He went to Thailand via Myawady. Then, he lived in Norway, the United State and Canada.
He was allowed to return to Myanmar after he had been told by diplomatic officials that he was not blacklisted. He then went to Nay Pyi Taw Prisons Department to ask for related documents to solve the problem of his sentence. But they said the case was already dismissed as the intelligence organization that sued him had been abolished.
Police arrested him under a police warrant on the night of September 29 this year as he was a jail escapee. Kyaw Myint was arrested in Yangon and handed over to Obo Prison in Mandalay from where he managed to escape.
He was charged with escaping from jail on October 2.
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 the help from a lance corporal on duty while he was receiving treatment at Mandalay General Hospital on January 19, 1999.
According to the Union Election Commission’s data, UDP was among the three political parties fielding the largest number of parliamentary candidates for the 2020 general election.
However, the UEC has announced the abolishment of UDP.
