Home
Myanmar opposition spokesman dies in Singapore
Kazakhstan News.Net
Saturday 29th March, 2008 (IANS)
Myint Thein, the spokesman for Myanmar's National League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party who was jailed repeatedly, died at age 62 in Singapore, relatives said Saturday.
Myint Thein was most recently detained for a month last year following the September anti-military protests in Yangon that left at least 31 people dead and led to thousands of arrests.
He died Friday evening after battling stomach cancer in Singapore General Hospital since Jan 31, his daughter said.
Myint Thein had been active in the Burmese democracy movement since 1988, when mass anti-military demonstrations first rocked the isolated, formerly socialist state, ending in an army-led bloodbath that claimed up to 3,000 lives.
Since winning a parliamentary seat in the 1990 elections, he had been detained several times without trial, including a three-year jail stint from 1998 to 2001.
As a close aid of NLD leader, the Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, he was named the party's spokesperson in 2004.
He was last detained in Yangon's notorious Insein Prison on Sep 27, 2007, after the peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks ended in a brutal crackdown.
Myint Thein's health deteriorated while he was in detention and he had to be hospitalised upon his release on Oct 30 last year.
'He was formerly healthy and strong. Frequent detentions and lack of medical treatment and inadequate food in prison made him sick and infected some diseases,' said Aung Din, executive director for the US Campaign for Burma.
Myanmar was formerly known as Burma.
After being diagnosed with stomach cancer, authorities permitted him to fly to Singapore for treatment in January.
 Email this story to a friend
Have your say on this story
|
 |
 |
- Intestinal infection toll mounts to 34 in China
Hefei (China), May 9 (Xinhua) The toll in hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) in China rose to 34 Friday with two more deaths reported from the eastern province of Anhui as nearly 25,000 people, mostly children, were infected, health ministry officials said Friday. [read story]
- Thai premier cancels Myanmar trip
Bangkok, May 9 (DPA) Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej Friday abruptly cancelled plans to fly to Yangon over the weekend to persuade the ruling Myanmar junta to accept aid workers and supplies for the cyclone-devastated country from the United States. [read story]
- North Korea nuclear documents focus on three facilities: South Korea
Seoul, May 9 (DPA) North Korea has handed over to a visiting US envoy documents primarily describing the operation of three facilities at its nuclear centre in Yongbyon, South Korean officials told the national news agency Yonhap Friday. [read story]
- Thai PM to persuade Myanmar to accept US aid
Bangkok, May 9 (Xinhua) Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej will fly to Myanmar Sunday in a bid to persuade its leaders to accept relief supplies from the US after a tropical cyclone wreaked havoc in the country, media reports said Friday. [read story]
- Jailed Hindraf leader sworn in; vows to fight for minorities
Kuala Lumpur, May 9 (IANS) Malaysian Indian lawmaker M. Manoharan, sworn in while in jail, has said he would continue to fight for the rights of the country's ethnic minorities. [read story]
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
