88 Generation Political Prisoner U Soe Moe Naing Dies in Myingyan Prison Without Emergency Medical Treatment

U Soe Moe Naing (alias: Din Daung), a political prisoner from the 88 Generation who was unjustly detained by the military in Myingyan Prison in Mandalay Region, passed away on September 15 due to a lack of emergency medical treatment within the prison. U Soe Moe Naing, 60, who suffered from coronary artery disease, experienced sudden shortness of breath and was transported to Myingyan General Hospital. However, prison authorities failed to transport him in a timely manner, and he was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. "Prison authorities contacted the family on the morning of September 16 to inform them of his death. The family was not permitted to take the body back. At 2 PM, under the prison's arrangements, he was buried in the cemetery in Myingyan town," an official from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) told the Irrawaddy Times. The deceased political prisoner U Soe Moe Naing was a frontline leader of the revolution in Mandalay city, including the Taungoo protest column, during the 88 Student Uprising, the 2007 Saffron Revolution, and the 2021 Spring Revolution. He was arrested on December 8, 2021. Subsequently, the military charged him under laws such as the Anti-Terrorism Law, the Arms Act, and the Explosives Act, sentencing him to 24 years in prison in March 2022, and he was detained in Myingyan Prison. "The failure to provide adequate medical treatment to prisoners like this, and the delays in sending them to hospitals, are causes of death. The AAPP states that prison authorities are responsible for such human rights violations," the AAPP official continued. According to AAPP reports, during the five years since the military coup, as of May this year, 148 political prisoners have died while unjustly detained in prisons across the country due to insufficient medical treatment. Photo – Ko Myat Aye