Monday, 17 October 2011 18:36 Zwe Khant
New Delhi (Mizzima) – “My birthday ceremony should not be only for me; it should be a ceremony of remembrance for all” – that’s Min Ko Naing’s birthday message.
Min Ko Naing’s sister, Mi Mi Lwin, told Mizzima the 88-generation student leader, who serving a 65-year prison term in Kengtung Prison, will be celebrated on Tuesday.
Min Ko Naing told his sister to pass on the message that a birthday ceremony will be held in Thamine Myoma Monastery in Insein Township in Rangoon on Tuesday. During the ceremony, organizers will offer food to 100 monks from the monastery and will offer a breakfast to people at 8 a.m.
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| 88 Generation Leader Min Ko Naing. Photo: ABFSU |
“The birthday ceremony will be well-attended because we expected that he would be released. Now we know that he cannot be here, but his friends who love and respect him want to attend the ceremony,” Mi Mi Lwin said.
Despite 850 invitation cards sent out for the birthday ceremony, they were not enough. Photocopies of the invitations have been distributed, she said. National League for Democracy (NLD) leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi, families of political prisoners, ethnic leaders and new-generation people have been invited.
“We will sing for our brother ABFSU [All Burma Federation of Student Unions] chairman Min Ko Naing on his birthday. We hope that we can sing in front of him in the future,” Min Thway Thit, a spokesman of the ABFSU, told Mizzima.
Only an estimated 218 political prisoners were included in the presidential amnesty on October 12.
Min Ko Naing formed and organized the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), a nationwide student union that opposed decades of dictatorial military rule. The student union largely contributed to the 8888 Uprising, during which millions of people marched on the streets, protesting against the dictatorship ruling the country and calling for democracy. The military regime killed up up to 10,000 people during the uprising, according to observers.
Amnesty International said Min Ko Naing was severely tortured and ill-treated during the early stages of his detention. His health suffered as a consequence. During his interrogation, he was reportedly forced to stand in water for two weeks until he collapsed. In November 2004, he was released from prison, after being imprisoned for 15 years.
He was arrested again in August 2007, with 13 other leaders of the 88 Generation Students for organizing peaceful demonstrations. The U.S. government condemned the arrests. In November 2008, he was sentenced to 65 years imprisonment, along with 22 others for their role in the August 2007 demonstrations. In 2008, he was transferred to Kengtung Prison in Shan State, where isolated, bleak cells were constructed in mid-2000 for solitary confinement.
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