Junta continues to deny eye surgery for imprisoned former Arakan State chief minister

By Admin 18 Feb 2023

DMG Newsroom
18 February 2023, Sittwe

Former Arakan State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison by Myanmar’s military regime, needs surgery for a left eye cataract but the junta has denied it despite repeated requests from U Nyi Pu himself and his family members over the past four months.

“He has no serious health problems. However, his eye must be treated,” said Ma Kyi Kyi Oo, a daughter of U Nyi Pu. “We family members are not allowed to meet him. He is on medication for the cataract, but it’s not working.”

U Nyi Pu developed the cataract while serving as Arakan State’s chief minister from 2016 to 2022, but was too busy to undergo a surgery at that time, and the eye problem has worsened since he was detained in the days following the military coup in February 2021. He requested surgery for it in November of last year, but junta officials have thus far turned a deaf ear.

The country’s Prison Manual guarantees appropriate healthcare services for inmates during imprisonment, but in Myanmar, both criminal and political prisoners rarely enjoy that right.

U Myat Tun, director of the Arakan Human Rights Defenders and Promoters Association, said: “Prisoners are not allowed to meet their families, and they are also denied their rights regarding their health and food for them, which is unacceptable.”

U Nyi Pu’s wife Daw Win Kyi was denied a prison visit in August of last year, according to her daughter.

“My mother was not allowed to visit my father. Prison authorities said they couldn’t allow her to visit because there was no instruction from upper-level authorities to allow prison visits by relatives,” said Ma Kyi Kyi Oo.

U Nyi Pu was arrested on February 1, 2021, the day of the military takeover, and was subsequently put under house arrest. He was taken into full custody again nine days later, to face prosecution, after he shared a video critical of the coup on social media.

The National League for Democracy politician was sentenced to two years in prison with hard labour for incitement in October 2021, followed by nine years on three counts of corruption and two years for electoral fraud.

The courts in post-coup Myanmar have been used as an effective means of stifling dissent.