By NAI MARN – Family members of Nai Yakkha, a Mon political prisoner, who had previously been sentenced to life imprisonment, announced that he will be released with other political prisoners once the new government offers amnesty.
Mi Chit Khin, Nai Yakkha’s wife, who visited her husband last week in Insein Prison, said, “He told me he will be released with other prisoners when amnesty is given from the government.”
“After he is released, he said that he will join the Mon political party, the official one [The All Mon Regions Democracy Party],” said his wife.
On May 2nd, Agency France Press quoted a government official who announced the government’s preparation to grant amnesty to some prisoners. Yet, the Burmese government has not yet set a date for if and when these prisoners will be released. Nor has this announcement made clear whether the amnesty would include political dissidents.
Nai Yakkha was arrested on July 17, 2003, after the Burmese regime accused him of blowing up General Aung San’s tomb in Rangoon on Martyr’s Day while Nai Yakkha was travelling with a Mon friend, and Nai Chem Ga Kao.
Nai Yakkha and his friend were sentenced to death, however after an appeal, their sentence was changed to life imprisonment.
Nai Yakkha has three children, two girls and one boy. His wife, Mi Chit Khin, has struggled to support her family on teacher’s wages while her husband has been in prison.
After the New Mon State Party engaged in a ceasefire with the Burmese regime in 1995, Nai Yakkha became an organizer and gave political trainings to Mon Buddhist monks and Mon youth. He’s a popular leader among the youth, and therefore viewed as a threat to the power of the Burmese regime.
According to the London-based human rights group, Amnesty International, there are more than 2,200 political prisoners in Myanmar Burma being held under vague laws.
