MYANMAR: Ailing 79-year old journalist Win Tin is freed after spending 19 years in jail as a political prisoner

Record ID: 809608

  • Title: MYANMAR: Ailing 79-year old journalist Win Tin is freed after spending 19 years in jail as a political prisoner
  • Date: 24th September 2008
  • Summary: (EU) YANGON, MYANMAR (SEPTEMBER 23, 2008) (REUTERS) (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) VARIOUS OF WIN TIN BEING HUGGED BY WOMAN, TALKING WITH ANOTHER, BEING PHOTOGRAPHED AND TALKING IN BURMESE ON THE TELEPHONE
  • Embargoed: 9th October 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Myanmar
  • Country: Burma (Myanmar)
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4NIGEHE7O446GDP391H2MFX28
  • Story Text: Myanmar's longest-serving political prisoner, journalist Win Tin, was freed on Tuesday (September 23) after 19 years in jail and immediately vowed to continue his struggle against 46 years of unbroken military rule.
    He was still wearing his light-blue prison clothes as he emerged at a friend's house in the former Burma's main city, Yangon, promising to "keep fighting until the emergence of democracy" in his country.
    The ailing 79-year old was arrested in July 1989 and sentenced to jail for giving shelter to a girl thought to have received an illegal abortion Win Tin received additional punishment for agitating against the military government and distributing propaganda, bringing his total sentence to 20 years.
    He was released on the same day that 9,002 prisoners were set free, but said he had complained to prison officials about being lumped in as part of a nationwide amnesty for ordinary criminals getting out on good behaviour.
    In protest, he refused to pick up his personal belongings or change into civilian clothes and also played down worries about his health, cited as another reason for his release.
    Human rights groups had feared his health was in decline. A year ago, Win Tin himself was musing about dying behind bars.
    The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), which tracks inmates of Myanmar's gulag, said five other prisoners of conscience were also released on Tuesday.
    Amnesty International said it was "elated" by news of the releases, even though more than 2,100 people remain behind bars on account of their political or religious beliefs.
    Win Tin was one of Myanmar's most high-profile political prisoners after opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in prison or under house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years, and her deputy Tin Oo.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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