Taungup philanthropist arrested on suspicion of financing PDF

By DMG 14 Dec 2021

DMG Newsroom
14 December 2021, Taungup 

Ko Min Ko Oo, chairman of the Youth Network in Taungup Township, Arakan State, was taken away in a car by seven men in civilian clothes at about 9 a.m. on December 14, according to family members. 

Ko Min Ko Oo was arrested on charges of financing anti-regime forces, and a case has been filed at the Taungup Township police station under Section 50(j) of the Counter-Terrorism Law, according to his father, U Khin Maung Sein.  

“Security personnel in plainclothes arrested him on suspicion of financing the PDF [People’s Defence Force], and he was booked at the police station,” U Khin Maung Sein said. 

Ko Min Ko Oo is a social worker, providing English and computer training to young people in Taungup Township, as well as working in environmental protection, and fundraising for Covid-19 prevention and treatment efforts. 

Allegations that Ko Min Ko Oo provided financing for the PDF were untrue, said U Khin Maung Sein. DMG contacted the Taungup Township police station to find out more about Ko Min Ko Oo’s arrest, but officials there could not be reached. 

At least eight people in Arakan State had been arrested on suspicion of PDF affiliations and charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law prior to the latest apprehension. Ko Min Ko Oo brings the total to nine.