Political Prisoners

Two NLD MPs and one youth group member released from Insein Prison

Two National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmakers and a Rakhine State Youth Executive Committee member were released from Insein Prison on Friday morning after serving sentences for unlawful association.  Ba Myo Thein and Soe Lay are elected members of the Amyotha Hluttaw, the upper house of Myanmar’s parliament, and members of the pro-democracy NLD party ousted in the military coup of February 2021.  Soe Lay has returned home to Rakhine State, and Ba Myo Thein is in need of treatment for cataracts after his release, according to a fellow member of parliament (MP) in communication with the released legislators.  “Ba Myo Thein needs his cataracts removed but otherwise he’s healthy. He opted not to get the surgery in the prison hospital and is planning to do it now,” the MP said. He added that Ba Myo Thein was at his brother’s house in Thingangyun Township, Yangon. The MPs and the Rakhine youth organisation member, Hein Min Htet, had all been arrested in May 2021, three months after the military coup.  Ba Myo Thein and Soe Lay were arrested at the NLD party headquarters in Bahan Township, Yangon, and Hein Min Htet was arrested along with his sister, Ni Ni May…