Top Myanmar activist may go blind: US

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Military-ruled Myanmar's imprisoned pro-democracy activist Min Ko Naing may go blind after failing to receive medical treatment, the US State Department charged Tuesday.

The de facto number two opposition leader after democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi "has not received care for an eye infection that, if left untreated, could cause loss of sight," department spokesman Tom Casey said.

Student leader Min Ko Naing was arrested in August last year along with a dozen colleagues after he participated in a peaceful march over a sudden oil price hike that triggered wide-spread protests later and a deadly military crackdown.

He sought permission to see an eye specialist but the authorities at the Insein Prison in Yangon, where he is being held,...