National League for Democracy (NLD) veteran Win Tin remains unconsciousness in Rangoon General Hospital following an operation on his large intestine, fellow central executive committee member Win Myint confirmed to DVB on Sunday.
Win Tin, who recently celebrated his 84th birthday, was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit on Saturday for the operation following worrying fluctuations in blood pressure.
The NLD patron had earlier been treated at Rangoon’s Green Cross Hospital for muscle and nerve issues before being moved to Victoria Hospital for bowel treatment.
On Saturday, he developed respiratory and blood pressure problems and a decision was made to take him to Rangoon General Hospital for an immediate operation.
A former journalist, Win Tin was arrested by the former military junta in July 1989 as a leading light in the newly formed opposition party, the NLD. Charged with disseminating “anti-government propaganda”, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, of which he served 19.
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While Win Tin languished in prison in 2005, then aged 75, Amnesty International noted: “U Win Tin was imprisoned because of his senior position in the National League for Democracy, and was sentenced to further years in prison for his attempts to inform the United Nations of ongoing human rights violations in prisons in Myanmar [Burma].
“He has been in a poor state of health, exacerbated by his treatment in prison, which has included torture, inadequate access to medical treatment, being held in a cell designed for military dogs, without bedding, and being deprived of food and water for long periods of time.”
Last month, Win Tin met with nationalist Buddhist monk Wirathu at the Masoeyein Monastery in Mandalay where the pair discussed the opposition party’s efforts to amend the 2008 Constitution.
