Min Ko Naing, widely regarded as Burma’s most respected activist after democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, is suffering from a serious eye infection,

The activist’s family had learned of his condition during a visit to Rangoon’s infamous Insein Prison, where he is being held, on April 9. She added that his eyes have been in severe pain since late March.Min Ko Naing, widely regarded as Burma’s most respected activist after democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, is suffering from a serious eye infection, according to a family member who says that the authorities have refused to allow him to receive treatment from an eye specialist.
“He asked prison officials for a consultation with an eye specialist, but they said that eye specialists visit the prison once a month. They told him he would have to wait at least a month and get permission from the authorities,” said the relative, adding that the pain had become so great that he was unable to sleep at night.The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), a Thailand-based Burmese human rights group, said in a press release on Friday that Min Ko Naing could lose his eyesight if prison authorities continue to refuse his request for an examination by a qualified ophthalmologist. The group also attacked the regime for deliberately withholding proper treatment. “It is very clear that the military regime and prison authorities intentionally refused to provide necessary treatment in order to destroy Min Ko Naing’s eyesight,” said the AAPP statement. Min Ko Naing is one of the most widely recognized figures to emerge from Burma’s nationwide pro-democracy uprising in 1988. He was arrested in March 1989 and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment under Section 5(j) of the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act. His sentence was commuted to 10 years under a general amnesty in January 1993, but his detention was later extended under Section 10 (a) of the State Protection Act. He was released from prison on November 19, 2004 after spending 15 years in prison. After his release, he resumed his activities as an outspoken opponent of the Burmese junta, founding an influential democratic force, the ’88 Generation Students group, with some of his colleagues. In September 2006, he was rearrested along with four other prominent student leaders. He and his fellow activists were released in January 2007.Min Ko Naing and other members of the ’88 Generation Students group were detained again on August 21, 2007 after they launched a peaceful protest against the junta’s unannounced decision to drastically increase fuel prices.Many of Burma’s political prisoners have died in detention or had their health irreparably damaged by harsh conditions in the country’s prisons, where healthcare is primitive and often withheld as a form of punishment, according to critics. In its statement, AAPP expressed “concern that Min Ko Naing may lose his eye if he does not receive immediate treatment,” noting that in March 2008, 70-year-old Than Lwin, another political detainee being held in Mandalay Prison, lost his sight in one eye because he was denied medical attention until it was too late.

Posted in: The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP)