Renowned Myanmar democracy campaigner dies

YANGON, Myanmar

Win Tin, one of Myanmar’s most admired pro-democracy campaigners, died in hospital on Monday morning aged 85.

The veteran journalist, who earned the unenviable title of Myanmar’s longest serving political prisoner, was admitted to Rangoon General Hospital on March 12.

A fearless and scathing critic of the military government, Win Tin helped found the National League for Democracy (NLD) along with current opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 1988.

A year later the ruling military junta jailed him for his role in the country’s popular pro-democracy movement, in which thousands died as soldiers gunned down unarmed protestors on the streets.

He spent 19 years in prison, where he endured torture and solitary confinement, before being freed in a general amnesty in 2008.

Despite being a close ally of Suu Kyi’s, Win Tin did not shy away from criticizing the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, especially when it came to her conciliatory approach to the military.

National League for Democracy spokesman Nyan Win described Win Tin as a “great pillar of strength."

He added: “His demise at this important political juncture of transition is a great loss not only to the NLD but also to the country. We are deeply saddened." 

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