Myanmar junta releases prominent political prisoner

0 Comments | Asian Political News, August 19, 2002

YANGON, Aug. 16 Kyodo

Myanmar's military junta said Friday it has released from detention prominent political prisoner Aye Tha Aung, an ally of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD).

The release of Aye Tha Aung comes just days ahead of a two-day visit to Yangon by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, set to begin Sunday, and follows on the heels of Suu Kyi insistence earlier this month that all political prisoners must be released ''speedily and unconditionally.''

The junta also announced in a press statement the release of five NLD members -- Zaw Myo Oo, Kyaw Sein, Eisar, Than Htay and Ko Ko Zaw -- from various prisons.

Aye Tha Aung, 57, is secretary of a 10-member Committee Representing the People's Parliament (CRPP), formed by the NLD and other parties in September 1998 to function as a shadow legislature until the junta allows the parliament elected in 1990 to convene.

The junta said he was released from custody while being treated for liver cancer at Yangon General Hospital.

Aye Tha Aung, was arrested in April 2001 and reportedly sentenced to 21 years of imprisonment the following June to be served at Insein prison, where conditions are particularly harsh.

His health reportedly deteriorated significantly while in detention.

As chairperson of the CRPP's Committee on Ethnic Nationalities Affairs, he represents four large ethnic groups in the body, including his own party, the Arakan League for Democracy.

All six prisoners released Friday, including Aye Tha Aung, have been reunited with their families, the junta's press statement said.

The latest releases mean 358 political prisoners, including 308 NLD members, have been released since secret dialogue between the NLD and the junta began in October 2000, although 250 NLD members remain imprisoned.

In a videotaped statement released in Bangkok on Aug. 7, Suu Kyi demanded the release of all political prisoners ''speedily and unconditionally'' and said, ''Until all our political prisoners are free, none of us can say that Burma is now truly on the road to democratic change.''

''The release of political prisoners is necessary if the process of reconciliation is to go forward to a point where it becomes truly irreversible,'' said the 57-year-old Nobel peace laureate, who herself was released from nearly 20 months of house arrest on May 6.

In freeing Suu Kyi, the junta issued a statement saying it would allow all citizens to participate freely in the political process while prioritizing national unity, peace and stability.

The NLD won a landslide victory in the 1990 general elections but the junta refused to allow the legislature to be convened and jailed scores of NLD members.