U Win Myint (center) flanked, clockwise from top left, by Dr Zaw Myint Maung, U Nyan Win, U Win Khaing, U Win Htein.
The jailed president of the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government, U Win Myint, is in bad health and on a urinary catheter, according to sources close to Taungoo Prison where the deposed president is kept.
The nature of the medical condition he is suffering remains unclear, but a urinary catheter is usually used in treatment for an enlarged prostate, which is common in older men, or in other serious health conditions including stroke.
The 71-year-old was jailed by the junta for 12 years and has been held in Taungoo, Bago Region since January.
The health of other senior NLD members including its patron U Win Htein and vice chairman Dr. Zaw Myint Maung is also causing concern.
U Win Htein, 81, needs an oxygen concentrator at night while Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, 71, is suffering from leukemia.
U Win Htein, who needed the aid of a walking stick and wheelchair for his mobility even before his imprisonment, is behind bars in Mandalay’s Obo Prison after being sentenced to 20 years. His advanced age and lousy prison conditions coupled with health problems including high blood pressure, diabetes, and seizures mean he is at risk.
Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, who was chief of the Mandalay Region government, faces 25 years in prison. The doctor is on medication for leukemia. Though he still can receive medicines from his family, the junta has imposed restrictions on his movement inside the prison, as well as restricting delivery of food and other items to him. Last month, his house in Mandalay Region’s Amarapura Township was targeted by a bomb attack.
Meanwhile, the NLD government’s Electricity minister U Win Khaing, 72, suffered cardiac arrest on June 1 in Obo Prison, where he is serving a 28-year sentence.
He survived but is still receiving treatment at Mandalay General Hospital for heart problems.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who turned 78 on Monday, does not have any apparent serious health problems. But she needs certain medicines for age-related health conditions. Though the regime has reported she is in good shape, Myanmar citizens harbor serious concerns for the civilian leader, who faces 33 years in Naypyitaw Prison. Few have any trust in the healthcare provided to her by the junta.
In 2021, senior NLD member U Nyan Win, 79, died of COVID-19 in Yangon General Hospital after being referred from Insein Prison and failing to receive proper treatment in time. There are also other cases in which jailed NLD government ministers have come down with serious medical conditions requiring medical treatment outside prison.
Myanmar’s military regime had killed 3,818 people as of May 31, according to the NLD body that documents human rights violations. Among them were 93 NLD members including two lawmakers.
Some 1,200 NLD party members including 77 lawmakers remain under detention, said the body.
