Death sentence for son of former Burmese dictator

Former Burmese dictator Ne Win’s son-in-law and three grandsons were sentenced to death today for plotting to overthrow the ruling military junta.

The quartet were arrested in March for allegedly recruiting army officers for the coup, which the government said was aimed at reinstalling Ne Win to power, and inciting military personnel to commit high treason.

The defendants will face death by hanging, Judge Aung Ngwe said after reading out the verdict in the special Rangoon court, which will have to be endorsed by the High Court.

After that they have seven days to appeal in the Supreme Court. The defendants have denied the allegations, saying they have no interest in politics.

During the near four month trial, the prosecution built a strong circumstantial case against the defendants, portraying them as a family hungry for power, whose members resorted to black magic and treachery but who were exposed by loyal army officers.

Aye Zaw Win and his sons – Aye Ne Win, 25, Kyaw Ne Win, 23, and Zwe Ne Win, 21 - were arrested unexpectedly, exploding the widely held belief that the Ne Win clan had influence over the junta.

The death sentence made it clear that any influence he may have had has been brushed aside.

Ne Win, 91, and his daughter Sandar Win – Aye Zaw Win’s wife – have been placed under house arrest at their sprawling lakeside mansion.

The government has said that Ne Win’s relatives planned the coup because they were upset at losing some of their economic and political privileges with the gradual sidelining of Ne Win from power circles.

Ne Win, who came to power in a 1962 coup, stepped down in 1988 in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations that were crushed by the military. The generals, who took over power, continue to rule today.

Prosecutors suggested that the Ne Win family used voodoo during the coup plot.

As part of evidence they displayed three miniature dolls of the junta’s top three leaders, generals Than Shwe, Maung Aye and Khin Nyunt, apparently used in black magic rituals.