The owner of Sky Villa Condominium, where more than 200 people were killed in the Mandalay earthquake, has been sentenced by the Aungmyaythazan Township Court to five years in prison with hard labor, according to sources familiar with the case.
Sky Villa owner U Naing Htun Lin was charged at the Aungmyaythazan Township Court on February 10. He was initially granted bail and allowed to stand trial while at liberty.
However, on March 17, his bail was revoked, and he was remanded into custody to continue the trial.
The case was opened under Section 304-A of the Penal Code at No. (1) Area Police Station in Aungmyaythazan Township before being brought to court. On June 23, the court sentenced him to five years' imprisonment with hard labor.
"The case was filed by U Zaw Moe Aung, a staff officer from the Special Investigation Department, acting as the plaintiff. On June 23, the court sentenced U Naing Htun Lin to five years' imprisonment with hard labor under Section 304-A of the Penal Code. At the beginning of the proceedings, he had been allowed to face trial on bail. As for the current status, the Aungmyaythazan District Court has requested the case file for review under Criminal Revision Case No. 39Ka/2026, and it has been forwarded accordingly," an information officer from the Aungmyaythazan Township Court said in response to inquiries about the case.
Sources also said that both the prosecution and the defense are pursuing appeals and revision proceedings in connection with the verdict.
The Sky Villa 11-storey condominium, located between 21st and 22nd Streets on 60th Street in Aungmyaythazan Township, was among the buildings that collapsed during the earthquake. More than 200 bodies were recovered from the site, making it one of the deadliest building collapses caused by the disaster.
Following the collapse, a group that included Daw Thet Thet Khine, the wife of U Naing Htun Lin, Managing Director of NTL Construction Company, which built the Sky Villa condominium, held three separate ceremonies at the monastery pavilion on 19th Street. During the events, the group apologized to victims' families and provided compensation of 10 million kyats to the family of each person who died in the collapse.
