A prominent activist serving a 65-year prison term in Burma is suffering from high blood pressure and needs urgent medical care, an opposition party spokesman said Thursday.
Min Ko Naing, a leader of the 88 Generation Students group that was at the forefront of a failed 1988 pro-democracy uprising, is being held in a remote prison in the country's northeast. He was arrested on Aug. 21, 2007 along with more than a dozen other activists after staging a street protest against a massive fuel price hike.
Khin Maung Swe, a spokesman for the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), said Min Ko Naing's sister told him about the activist's worsening health Wednesday.
"The family of Min Ko Naing is very concerned with his health," said Khin Maung Swe, adding that relatives hoped to visit the ailing dissident next month. "He's suffering from hypertension and needs proper medical attention."
Human rights groups believe the ruling military junta is holding roughly 65,000 prisoners, including more than 2,200 political detainees. Many are jailed in remote locations with little access to medical care.
The most prominent political prisoner is opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 14 of the past 20 years. Suu Kyi's NLD party won general elections in 1990 but the military refused to give up power and increased its repression of the country's pro-democracy movement.
"It's very inhumane to hold political prisoners in far-flung prisons," said Khin Maung Swe, a senior member of Suu Kyi's party who had been imprisoned for 15 years. "According to my experience, proper and prompt medical care is almost impossible in most prisons."
A spokesman for the junta could not be reached for immediate comment.
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