Journalist Par Gyi’s body was exhumed from a shallow grave in a field in Kyaikmayaw Township in Mon State on Wednesday with evidence immediately pointing to torture.

According to eye-witness Nay Myo Zin, the corpse showed signs of a broken jaw, a caved-in skull and swelling on the torso indicating broken ribs.

“It is completely clear that Ko Par Gyi was tortured,” he said.

His widow, Ma Thandar, who was present at the exhumation, confirmed that the body was that of her husband.

The corpse of the Burmese journalist was taken to Moulmein Hospital where it will undergo further forensic investigation.

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Par Gyi was a political activist and a member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s personal security team during the 1988 uprising. He was also one of the first National League for Democracy Youth members and acted as the group’s Karen State coordinator.

After his involvement in the uprising, Par Gyi was forced into exile in Thailand and began working as a freelance journalist under the pseudonym “Aung Naing.” His wife Ma Thandar spent several weeks looking for her lost husband after he went missing in late September until the military issued a report on 23 October which said the Burmese army killed him due, in part, to his involvement with the Klohtoobaw Karen Organization (KKO), the political wing of an armed group commonly known as the Democratic Karen Benevolent Association (DKBA). The military report also said Par Gyi was shot while attempting to escape from custody.

Par Gyi’s family and colleagues deny he was involved with the Karen rebels.