Release of U Win Tin

• Published on 25/09/2008
• Lane Cove

The news of the release of U Win Tin from Insein Prison in Yangon, Myanmar, reached us on the evening of 23 September. The 78-year-old former journalist and politician has been in prison for 19 years and was Myanmar's longest serving prisoner of conscience. He had been offered his freedom before, but only if he agreed to terms set by the military junta. U Win Tin's release is unconditional and he has said he will continue to campaign for democracy in Myanmar.

So who is U Win Tin?

U Win Tin is a Burmese writer who believes in democracy and freedom of expression. In the late 1980s he worked closely with Aung Sang Suu Kyi and others to form the National League for Democracy (NLD). He was arrested in 1989 as part of a military crackdown. Amnesty International carefully examined the accusations and concluded U Win Tin was a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned for expressing his political views.

He was first sentenced to three years imprisonment but in 1992 he was sentenced to another eleven years. Then, in 1996, he and other prisoners were sentenced to another five or seven years for smuggling a letter to the United Nations about their bad prison conditions. He was kept imprisoned despite repeated promises from the authorities that he might be released.

Despite being jailed, U Win Tin continued to inspire democracy and freedom: "...I will fight for democracy wherever I am put. The politicians are like gardeners who grow a long-lasting tree. Although he cannot get an opportunity to eat the fruit from these trees, he must grow them for the next generations."

At seventy-seven years old, he is now in very poor health, made worse by harsh prison conditions and little access to proper medical treatment.

After working on his case for over four years we were ecstatic to learn that U Win Tin was released from Insein Prison on September 23rd.

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