Rejected By Military Hospital, Former Myanmar Army Captain Who Used A Gun To Hold Aung San Suu Kyi Killed Because Of COVID-19

Myanmar's ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. (Wikimedia Commons/Htoo Tay Zar)

JAKARTA - A former Myanmar military captain who tried to shoot pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has died from COVID-19, after being initially refused by a military hospital for treatment.

Former captain Myint Oo, 60, died on Saturday at a military-run medical facility in Hmawbi, Yangon, Myanmar, last week, citing The Irrawaddy Monday, July 26.

Going back 32 years, April 4, 1989, to be exact, Aung San Suu Kyi was campaigning for the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Ayeyarwady County, when she and her supporters were confronted by a group of soldiers led by Captain Myint Oo in the Danubyu Delta City.

At that time, the Myanmar military regime was trying to suppress Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD because of the overwhelming popular support. Myint Oo then shouted orders for the procession to be disbanded.

However, the journey of Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters continued, prompting soldiers to point their guns at Suu Kyi and her supporters. The soldiers were just waiting for orders to fire from Myint Oo.

The tense situation was suddenly defused by a major who interrupted the captain, ordering him not to fire, saying, "This is not the front line. This is politics". The major intervention angered Myint Oo. He tore off his epaulet on the spot.

Years later, the captain recalled, he would have shot Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters for sure, having received written orders from the top command to do so.

"I just wanted to be an obedient soldier who followed orders", he stressed feeling betrayed, adding the last minute change to orders made him angry enough to tear his epaulets because they didn't follow the orders they were issued.

Illustration of the Myanmar military regime meeting. (Source: seniorgeneralminaunghlaing.com.mm)

Despite having his epaulets ripped off, Myint Oo remained in the army until 1992, when he was transferred to the Ministry of Irrigation, where he eventually retired as deputy director.

When the NLD came to power in 2015, he remained anti-NLD and anti-Aung San Suu Kyi. He used his Facebook account to voice his displeasure with them and his loyalty to the military.

On July 18, 2021, Myint Oo again felt betrayed by the Myanmar military, when he was rushed to the 1,000-Bed Military Hospital in Yangon after developing a fever, one of the symptoms of COVID-19.

He was not greeted and scolded by the officer on duty. After two days of waiting to get a treatment bed, he tested positive and was sent to a COVID-19 center without proper referral documents, earning him a chance to experience rejection there.

This angered him so much that he wrote a warning on his Facebook page, saying he "didn't want to be red after turning green after all these years", meaning the incident had prompted him to consider whether to support the NLD, as he had been betrayed by the military.

After his post, Myint Oo was treated at the military hospital in Hmawbi, but he died there on Saturday last week at the hospital.

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