Junta finds scapegoats for government leaks, says former colleague

Sunday, 10 January 2010 21:59 Mizzima News (Interview)

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - A former foreign ministry employee has accused the Burmese military regime of trying to wipe out secrets of the past - the killing of SPDC's Secretary 2 General Tin Oo, who died in a controversial helicopter crash in 2001 by giving death sentences to two officials last Friday.

They were accused of leaking secret details of the military government’s ministerial visits to abroad and the network of tunnels built in Burma.

Sein Lwin, a former employee in the Burmese embassy in Cambodia told Mizzima in an interview that he does not believe that those who were sentenced to death by the Burmese regime last Friday leaked the information as accused by the Burmese government.

Sein Lwin (35), was in the Burmese embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia till 2004 as head of branch II and worked for intelligence gathering and reporting for the Burmese military. However, he was not in Burma at the time of the arrests last year.

Excerpts from the interview:

Qs. 1. What do you think of the recent death sentence to two officials because of secret documents leaked?

Ans: Starting from July 2009, the Head of Sa- Pha-Ra (Military Affairs Security- MAS) issued orders to his newly appointed intelligence officers at Naypyidaw to find out details of the leakage.

The new intelligence officers had to find scapegoats for temporary satisfaction of Lieutenant General Ye Myint, the chief of MAS. If the two men could be blamed for blowing the whistle, there would be no more news regarding transfer of staff members to embassies and abroad.

The dictators may hope that by giving the death penalty to the whistle blowers will stop others, but sooner or later, there will be more news and pictures on the public media again and again, until the regime is changed.

Qs: 2. Can you tell us about former army Major Win Naing Kyaw (who is a friend of Zaw Tun Oo, son of General Tin Oo) and how he was arrested?

Ans: He was working and living in Phnon Penh, Cambodia. He was traced by Brg. Gen Than Han from Military Attaché office in the Burmese embassy in Cambodia. He did not know that he was being watched and not only the leaked files. He knew that His boss Lt-Gen Tin Oo, former Secretary-2 of SLORC (State Law and Development Council, the name of the junta, which was changed to State Peace and Development Council) was assassinated in 2001. By this time, the Generals used one stone to kill two birds. Win Naing Kyaw was changing to the side of democracy activists and one day, if he revealed the details of the conspiracy, the current batch of generals would lose the support of the new generation within the army.

He came back in early December 2009. He was arrested at the Rangoon Mingalardon airport by MAS. To be honest, I was not in Burma but according to my sources, MAS found the pictures of tunnels and Gen. Shwe Mann’s North Korea trip. But the true reason is more secret files of Secretary 2 were stored in his laptop. But the generals did not want more ripples in the case.

Qs: 3. How can you tell that he is not the one who leaked secret files to the media in exile?

Ans. Win Naing Kyaw is not from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His last post was Director of the Foreign Economic Relations Department in the Ministry of National Planning. He quit his post around 2004-05 as he got a job with a UN agency.

In MOFA the cases are usually copied to Ka Ka- Kyi (Office of Chief of Staff of Defence Services - Army), Ka Ka (Hlan) (Chief of Staff of Defence Service s- Intelligence) and the Head Office of Home Affairs. The John Yattaw case for instance and all other files spread around the government departments.

Qs: 4. The junta sentenced to death not only Win Naing Kyaw but also Thura Kyaw, a clerk in the Foreign Ministry. The files may have come from Thura Kyaw. What do you say?

Ans. Even though the case file was from Thura Kyaw’s office room, there are similar copies in other government agencies. In Naypyidaw, there is freedom to access the internet and they also need to count on Ka Ka- Kyi and Ka Ka- Hlan. Someone else from the defence establishment could have easily sent it. In this case, finding Thura Kyaw’s files in the laptop of Win Naing Kyaw is illogical but they could not defend themselves at the junta court controlled by MAS.

At any cost, Senior Gen Than Shwe wanted to wipe out the straw from the past. This time, finding files in his laptop became valid evidence in court.

Qs. 5. Did you know where they were detained and about his trial?

Once they caught him, they reported to the headquarters of the MAS and sent him to Yae Kyi Eye for interrogation then before being sentenced he was sent to Insein Prison. The court is the northern province court in Insein township, Shwe Pyi Tha road.

Qs. 6. What is the evidence that S2 was assassinated?

Ans. While I was attending the the Criminal Investigation Department - CID’s course at the old MOFA in 2002, Win Naing Kyaw attended that course too and we become close friends. At that time, the helicopter pilot, a Major was saved from the San Lwin River but was shot dead.

Qs. 7. Who shot the pilot?

Ans. It is not known. But it could be between the military intelligence or the army.

The authorities did not allow publication of the funeral advertisement in the state-run newspaper. Zaw Tun Oo, son of S2 Tin Oo is still in MOFA. He and I were in the same batch in Phaung Gyi (government employees training) in 1998. According to him, there was a big power rivalry between his father and Maung Aye and Khin Nyunt at that point in time.

Qs. 8. Why did you decide to defect and what are the immediate causes?

Well, former Major Win Naing Kyaw did not know that he was being watched and was blacklisted. If he knew he would not have gone back to Burma. As for me, I learnt that I and some of the other former staff members were already blacklisted. So, I had to defect, even though I love my country. The day it is safe I will proudly go back to Burma and that would be the day the country gets genuine democracy.

Qs 9. What do you think of the nuclear ambition of the regime?

The military government is really afraid of being attacked by the US like Iraq.

Having military might by getting nuclear missiles may give it more weight politically and it assumes the US will not attack the regime.

Qs. 10. What do you know about regime 2010 election plan?

Ans. The regime won’t allow free and fair polls like 1990. The Union Solidarity Development Association would win by a majority. So, with one stone the junta will kill three birds. The junta will also automatically cancel the results of the 1990 elections and disarm ethnic groups.

Qs. 11. What do you know about the regime's plan for ceasefire and the Border Guard Force issue?

Ans. The cease-fire groups are already in the trap of the Generals with their long term plan, which was initiated by former Military Intelligence Chief Khin Nyunt. Forming the Border Guard forces under army control is a tactic to destroy the armed groups over a five year plan. Five years on, there will be no Border Guard Force troops, who Burmese Army soldiers will replace gradually.

Qs 12. What do you think of the relationship between North Korea and the Burmese regime? What are North Korea’s projects in Burma?

Ans. The two countries are politically isolated in the international community. There are a lot of nuclear projects including the training of Burmese military intelligence personnel. You may already have read about the secret files and these are true.