Myanmar fires minister over financial misappropriation
Myanmar’s minister of religious affairs has been fired and charged with the misuse of over $10,000, a government official said on Friday.
The sacking of Religious Affairs Minister Hsan Sint, coincides with the arrest of five Buddhist monks last week after a well-known monastery was raided in a late night operation in Yangon.
“He is now under investigation for misuse of a fund of around $10,225,” said a government official from the president’s office who asked not to be named.
Some local media reports said Hsan Sint was sacked because he opposed the monastery raid.
Officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, accompanied by 300 riot police, seized the monastery in Yangon on June 10.
Its ownership is disputed between the government-appointed high-ranking Buddhist monk association, the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, and the popular abbot Pyinya Wuntha.
Five senior monks were defrocked and sent to Yangon Prison by the authorities on June 13.
They will be charged with trespassing, police said last week.
The government also announced on state media that the chief minister of Rakhine State has retired but gave no explanation.
Rakhine state has seen a series of sectarian clashes between Buddhists and Muslims since June 2012 that has brought international criticism.
(NAN)