Trials for more than 300 people linked to Myanmar's disbanded military intelligence unit began on Monday under a cloud of secrecy inside the notorious Insein prison, a legal source said. "The trials have started today," the source told the news agency. "No fewer than 16 special tribunals being presided over by 16 divisional and district-level judges were set up inside the jail premises," said the source, who went inside the prison. Some 30 special courts are expected eventually to be operating within the prison walls, and the trials are expected to end within 45 days. Thousands of people have been summoned for closed-door preliminary hearings in recent months.Most defendants face multiple charges, including corruption and possession of illegal foreign currency. Some of the higher-ranking officials are likely to be charged with conspiracy, the legal expert said. The defendants are closely connected to former military intelligence chief and deposed premier General Khin Nyunt, who has been accused by the ruling military junta of insubordination and abuse of power. Two of his sons are among the 300 people facing trial. Khin Nyunt himself faces several charges including high treason, abuse of power and graft but is unlikely to be put on trial at this time, sources said.
Khin Nyunt, who led military intelligence for two decades, had favoured limited dialogue with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. He was replaced by junta hardliner General Soe Win. Myanmar's military rulers have painted the purge as a crackdown on corruption. In October they scrapped the National Intelligence Bureau, the body that gave widespread powers to military intelligence officers. The intelligence wing was believed to control much of the black market and drug money in Myanmar - the world's second largest opium producer - and was a bitter rival of hardline army factions loyal to the junta leadership. But the hardline faction is also deeply involved in corruption, and analysts have said the crackdown is in part a battle over who controls black-market money. Myanmar is ranked among the world's top five most corrupt countries by watchdog Transparency International.