A 20-year-old political prisoner who was arrested in 2021 in connection with a military raid on an apartment in Botahtaung Township, Yangon, died in Insein Prison on Sunday.
A source close to his family said that prison authorities informed them of the death of Min Hein Khant, who also went by the name Ah Kyae, around noon on September 24.
“He suddenly felt tired and complained of chest pain before collapsing into a sitting position. His head was down, and he was unable to rise again,” the source said.
“Before his death, he was acting happy alongside his friends. They said it was sudden.”
The source close to the family said that Min Hein Khant, who had no known heart condition or other medical problems before his imprisonment, was last seen in relatively good health on May 25, when he appeared in court.
“He was suffering from heart disease, a prison doctor said. They told him he would have to seek a cure only after getting out of prison, and that he should just continue to take the medicines they prescribed in the meantime,” the source said.
Since last August, his family had been buying and sending medicines according to the prison doctor’s prescriptions.
Because of a shortage of medications in the prison hospital, Min Hein Khant had appealed to the prison authorities in writing to receive treatment at an external hospital, but was not granted a transfer.
Min Hein Khant’s body was reportedly cremated at Yay Way Cemetery at 2pm on Monday after his family received it from the prison.
Following his arrest on November 1, 2021, The young activist had spent 54 days in an interrogation centre and one year and 10 months in Insein Prison before his death.
Min Hein Khant was serving a sentence of 27 years in prison on various charges, including violations of the Counter-Terrorism Law, attempted murder under Section 307 of the Penal Code, incitement under Section 505, and offences related to making and possessing explosive weapons.
Following the coup, Min Hein Khant became a member of the Pazundaung-Botahtaung Youth Strike Committee (PBYSC). He was a 10th grade student at the time.
When junta troops raided an apartment occupied by PBYSC activists on August 10, 2021, five people jumped from the building in an attempt to escape. Two died at the scene and the other three were arrested after sustaining injuries.
In addition to the three detained during the apartment raid, the junta later arrested eight more in connection with the case. With one exception, a patient at the Yangon General Hospital, the junta ultimately transferred these detainees to Bago Region’s Tharyarwaddy Prison, which is notorious for the severe abuse its authorities have inflicted on political prisoners.
Having evaded capture during the apartment raid, Min Hein Khant and his fellow activist Kaung Sett established the 44th Urban Guerrilla Group and continued participating in the resistance against the coup regime, but were arrested two months later.
Junta forces fatally shot Kaung Sett’s father during his arrest. Min Hein Khant and Kaung Sett remained in Insein Prison, where Kaung Sett is currently serving a 25-year sentence.
According to the human rights monitoring organisation Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), tens of thousands have been arrested on suspicion of anti-regime activities as of September of this year. According to data collected by AAPP, there are at least 19,260 political prisoners still in detention, and at least 4,100 people have been killed by the military regime.
