“I don't think I will be released anytime soon. Tell my friends not to sacrifice for my freedom,” jailed political activist Min Ko Naing asked his family to communicate to his colleagues and supporters on Monday.
Min Ko Naing is a leader of the 88 Generation Students group and is considered one of Burma’s most important opposition political activists. He has been in prison for 20 of the last 23 years and is currently serving a 65-year prison sentence that began in 2007.
On Thursday, Min Ko Naing was transferred from a remote prison in Shan State, eastern Burma to Insein Prison in Rangoon. But after spending only one night in Insein, he was transferred to Thayet Prison, which is 350 km north of his hometown Rangoon. In addition, Burma’s President Thein Sein said he does not accept claims that political prisoners or prisoners of conscience exist in Burma. “I cannot accept the notion of conscience itself. There are only those against whom we have taken actions because they had broken the existing laws,” he told a group of Burmese journalists while attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Bali.
In the case of Min Ko Naing, he was arrested the day after leading a peaceful march in protest of an increase in fuel prices in 2007. He was then charged with violating the countries draconian Electronics Act, which has often been used to detain political activists, and sentenced to 65 years in prison.
In a government amnesty in October, around 220 political prisoners were released. At the time, the Human Rights Commission claimed this was a significant number because the country only had around 500 political prisoners in total.
2011.11.22 The Irrawaddy - Dissident Leader Tells Comrades Not to Sacrifice for His Freedom