YANGON, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's Yangon Regional High Court has dismissed appeals by suspects, maintaining most of the original charges against them in the murder of U Ko Ni, prominent legal advisor of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), local media reported Tuesday.
U Ko Ni, who was also an advocate, was gunned down at the Yangon international Airport on Jan. 29, 2017 upon his arrival back from a senior leadership program in Indonesia's Jakarta.
Gunman U Kyi Lin was charged by district court with principal murderer for shooting U Ko Ni to death, while U Aung Win Zaw and U Zeya Phyo were accused of plotting the assassination with the gunman as co-conspirators.
The court also charged U Kyi Lin and U Aung Win Zaw with allegedly carrying illegal arms.
Another suspect U Aung Win Tun, who was granted bail, was charged with allegedly concealing the criminals.
However, the High Court on Monday allowed revising the original charges against U Zeya Phyo and also approved revising the charges against U Aung Win Zaw, exempting him from the case, claiming that he was not responsible for the illegal possession of guns under Arms Act.
The hearing of the trial has been going on for more than a year.
During the incident, the gunman also killed a taxi driver who had tried to capture him before he was arrested by the police and bystanders.
U Aung Win Zaw, the second suspect, was blocked and captured 12 hours after the incident on Thanlwin Bridge in Hpa-an, Kayin state on Jan. 30, 2017 when he ran away from Yangon to Hpa-an.
The prior two suspects confessed the involvement of the third suspect, Aung Win Khaing, who is still escaping.
The appeal to the high court to revise the charges was made while the district court was hearing the accounts of suspects and defense witnesses.
