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Political Prisoner Profile

AAPP CASE NO.: 0051


NAME OF POLITICAL
PRISONER: Htay Win Aung @ Pyone Cho
GENDER: Male Ethnicity: Burmese
DATE OF BIRTH: Age: 42 in 2008
RELIGION: Buddhist
PARENTS NAME: U Win Maung and Daw Mya Aye
EDUCATION: Final year Geology student at Rangoon University
Private teacher, leader of the 88 Generation Students , and
OCCUPATION:
former political prisoner
LAST ADDRESS: Tamwe Township, Rangoon
August
ARREST DATE: August 22, 2007 PHOTO DATE:
2008
SECTION OF LAW: Section 505 (b) , 130 (b), 17/20, 33 (a), 17/1, 24/1, 32 (b)/36, 6, 5/96 (Section 4), 228
Sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court on October 29, 2008
SENTENCING HISTORY:
Sentenced to 65 years in prison on November 11, 2008
COURT HEARING: Insein prison special court, Ma-ubin prison
NAME OF PRISON: Insein prison, Ma-ubin prison, Kawthaung Prison
RELEASE DATE:
IMMEDIATE HEALTH CONCERNS:
Pyone Cho’s father said in November 2009, that Pyone Cho is suffering from constricted blood vessels,
however doctors were confident he would recover. Pyone Cho’s father Win Maung visited him in
November 2009. (DVB 25 November 2009).

CURRENT STATUS SUMMARY:


Pyone Cho’s wife Ma War and his father Win Maung were denied the right to see him in the remote
Kawthaung prison on 14 January 2009. They are among many families of political prisoners who have
not been able to meet with their loved ones in prison. In January 2009, Burmese authorities denied many
families the right to visit political prisoners, even though they had travelled hundreds of miles to remote
prisons. According to the regime’s own prison manual, political prisoners are entitled to family visits
once a fortnight.

Win Maung, father of Pyone Cho, said it took him three days by bus to reach his son at a cost of 60000
kyat ($US60). The average monthly wage in Burma is around 30000 kyat ($US30). "After hearing that
we had arrived in Kawthaung in February but were not allowed to visit him, he became worried and his
blood pressure went up," U Win Maung said of his son's health. "He had to take medication and a doctor
took care of him. He had high blood pressure when he first arrived and this is the second time. His
general health is good.” (dvb.13032009)

On October 29, 2008 Htay Win Aung aka Pyone Cho and eight other leaders of the 88 Generation
Students Group were sentenced by the Northern District Court inside Insein prison to 6 months
imprisonment under section 228 of the Penal Code for contempt of court, after they demanded that their
families be allowed to attend their court hearing and refused to answer the judge’s request for a plea of
guilty or not guilty. On October 31, they were transferred to Ma-ubin Prison in the Irrawaddy Division
where their trial continued. On November 11, all were sentenced, like the 14 88 Generation Students
Group leaders held in Insein prison, to 65 years in prison after being convicted of charges related to
their participation in demonstrations in August 2007. On November 15, the group of nine was
transferred back to Insein prison. On November 16, Pyone Cho was transferred to Kawthaung Prison in
Tenasserim division in the southernmost region in Burma, around 800 miles from his home in Rangoon.

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CAREER BACKGROUND:
Pyone Cho is an activist, student leader and co-founder of the 88 Generation Student group. As a
graduate student at Rangoon University, he played an important role in the pro-democracy uprising of
August 1988. He was vice-chairman of Ya-Ka-Tha (Yangon University Students Union) and was
arrested by Military Intelligence in 1989, held under Section 10 (A) of the State Protection Law 1975,
and sent to Insein prison. After being held without trial for nearly three years, he was sentenced to seven
years imprisonment in December 1991 under Section 5(j) of the Emergency Provisions Act by a
military court in Insein prison.

During his time in prison, Pyone Cho always tried to protect the rights of prisoners. This included
writing and signing a letter, together with 23 others, to the United Nations Special Rapporteur about
human rights abuses in prison in 1995. He was removed from his cell (No.4) on November 12, 1995 at
night. His head was covered with a hood, and he was brutally beaten during an interrogation. During the
trial for this incident he told the special court in Insein prison that on November 16 1995 he had again
been beaten severely during interrogation; he said six officials interrogated him by using threats and
inflicting torture. He was also accused of writing an illegal paper which was distributed inside the prison
called the ‘New Blood Wave’, a memorial to Phone Maw who was killed by the army on March 13,
1988. When he was tried for these ‘crimes’, he denied that the handwriting in the New Blood Wave
magazine was his, that he and Aung Myo Thint named the magazine, that Aung Myo Thint drew
illustrations and copied the writing in the magazine, or that he wrote the poems ‘Summer Dream: Purple
Flower’, ‘Phone Maw’, ‘He whose history does not die’ and ‘Anger of 13-16’. He pleaded not guilty to
all charges, but on March 28, 1996, in Insein prison special court, Judge Kyaw Tun from the Northern
District Court added another seven years to his sentence.

In November 1996, Pyone Cho was transferred from Insein prison to Tharyawaddy prison. He had been
suffering from a serious eye problem which deteriorated after the move. His vision weakened, but the
problem with his eyes was never properly diagnosed or treated. After spending over 14 years in two of
Burma’s most notorious prisons, authorities moved him to hospital in March 2003 and then back to
Insein. Pyone Cho was released from Insein prison in 2004.

Pyone Cho’s brother, Thet Win Aung, a 34 year old former political prisoner and dedicated activist,
was arrested in October 1998. He was a leading member of his student union, the Basic Education
Student’s Union (BESU), during the 1988 uprising and in 1989 was elected as the vice general secretary
of the BESU. He was dismissed from his school for his involvement in student demonstrations and later
jailed for nine months for helping form the student union. In 1994 military intelligence tried to arrest
him again for publishing All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) pamphlets and for
organising student demonstrations to commemorate the 32nd anniversary of the July 7, 1962 event in
which the military regime killed hundreds of university students by dynamiting the student union
building at Rangoon University. Although he escaped, his home was frequently searched and his family
was constantly harassed while he was on the run. In 1996, he participated behind the scenes in the
student demonstrations, and he also assisted in organising student protests in 1998, objecting to the poor
quality of education and lack of student rights. He was subsequently arrested.

Thet Win Aung was initially sentenced to 52 years imprisonment for calling for educational reform.
Later his sentence was increased to 60 years. He was first held in Kale Prison, Sagaing Division, where
he took part in a hunger strike calling for political prisoners’ rights. He was transferred to Hkamti prison
and then relocated to Mandalay in 2003 due to severe health problems. On March 6, 2004 and at the
beginning of 2005 he was reported to have been in Mandalay prison hospital suffering from cerebral

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malaria. In 2006 he was also reported to have been unable to walk without assistance due to the severity
of the torture that had been inflicted on him. Thet Win Aung died in Mandalay prison in October 2006.

On September 6, 2005 Pyone Cho helped found the 88 Generation Students group, together with Min
Ko Naing and other prominent activists from the 1988 uprising. Pyone Cho has been a very vocal and
active leader in this organization. In September 2006 he was again arrested together with other student
leaders Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Min Zeya and Htay Kywe following the White Sunday campaign.
Every Sunday they organised at least 100 people to wear white clothes and visit political prisoners’
families’ homes, encouraging and supporting them in a peaceful act to draw attention to the plight of the
political prisoners. He was released in January 2007 together with his four colleagues.

Pyone Cho and the other 88 Generation Student leaders launched the Open Heart Campaign in January
2007, encouraging members of the general public to write down their grievances about the country’s
mismanagement and sending the letters to the junta on their behalf.

On March 11, 2007, they reinitiated the “White Sunday” campaign to show solidarity with political
prisoners by paying visits to their families. At this time, Pyone Cho was quoted as saying: “We feel
sympathy towards the families of prisoners and a responsibility to encourage them…Their family
members are jailed not because they are guilty of a crime, but because of their political beliefs. [He]
added that it is time for Burmese authorities to face the issue of political prisoners in more human terms.
“It is time to end this kind of abuse, and authorities must view our work with more open and liberal
eyes.” (The Irrawaddy, March 22, 2007)

On August 6, 2007 The Irrawaddy reported the following: “Pyone Cho said that looking back to the
past, the 1974 constitution, which adopted a one-party system and didn’t fulfill the will of the people,
ended in the 1988 democracy uprising. He added that the 88 Generation Students believe any
constitution that grants the rights of the people and represents their will is going to succeed and endure.
The people of Burma, Pyone Cho said, will show their true desire toward the new constitution when a
referendum is held to ratify it, and their desire will follow the example of the 1990 election, which saw a
landslide victory for Burma’s opposition party the National League for Democracy.”

Following an overnight fuel price hike on August 15, 2007, the 88 Generation Students group, along
with other opposition groups, staged peaceful walking protests throughout Rangoon. On August 19,
2007, the group, including Pyone Cho, led a march by more than 400 people from Rangoon’s Kokine
junction to Tamwe market in a protest against high fuel prices. The activists, who had attended a
memorial service for late National League for Democracy leader U Kyi Maung in Bahan township,
walked to Tamwe instead of paying for bus fares pushed higher by increased gas prices. The Burmese
government had raised the price of subsidised fuels by between 100 and 500 percent, causing the cost of
public transport and a number of staple commodities such as rice and cooking oil to increase
dramatically.

In the early hours of 22 August 2007, Pyone Cho and other leading activists were arrested for their roles
in organizing the demonstrations against rising fuel and commodity prices. Women activists from the
group led a march later that day, continuing the anti-price hike demonstrations and protesting at the
arrest of their colleagues. In October 2008, the 88 Generation Students were awarded “2008 President’s
International Democracy Award” from the American Federation of Teachers (with more than 1.4
million members) in the United States.

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ARREST DETAILS:
On August 22, 2007, following the August 19th march, Pyone Cho was arrested in an early morning
raid on his home, as were many other leaders and prominent members of the 88 Generation Students
group including: Min Ko Naing, Kyaw Min Yu aka Jimmy, Min Zeya, Mya Aye, Ko Ko Gyi, Ko Zeya,
Kyaw Kyaw Htwe, Arnt Bwe Kyaw, Pannate Tun, Zaw Zaw Min, Thet Zaw and Nyan Lin Tun. They
were all taken to Kyaikkssan Ground Detention Center in Tamwe Township, Rangoon. Their mobile
phones were confiscated and their houses were searched.

DETAILS OF IMPRISONMENT:

Pyone Cho’s father has been vocal in his support for his son during his detention. In an interview with
Democratic Voice of Burma on August 5, 2008, U Win Maung said he was disappointed with the lack of
progress the UN had made on Burma. "It is so frustrating to see that the UN, the main international
body, has not been able to do anything about Burma…All of these people were detained without
breaking any law. My son was in prison for over a decade and now he is in again – that is very painful
for us."

The trials of the 35 members of the 88 Generation Students Group, led by Min Ko Naing, started on
August 27, 2008 and continued on September 9. They, 9 women and 26 men, were brought before
Rangoon Eastern District Court which was held inside Insein prison. Most had been detained in prison
without trial for more than a year, since August 21, 2007. Their cases were heard by eight courts, Insein
Township Court, Hlaing Tharya Township Court, Rangoon Eastern District Court, Rangoon Northern
District Court, Thinganyun Township Court, Dawbon Township Court, South Okkalapa Township
Court, and North Okkalapa Township Court, all have been held inside the Insein prison.

The accused included Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Pyone Cho, Min Zeya, Mya Aye, Jimmy, Zay Ya,
Kyaw Kyaw Htwe, Arnt Bwe Kyaw, Pannate Tun, Zaw Zaw Min, Thet Zaw, Nyan Linn, Than Tin aka
Kyee Than, Htay Kywe, Hla Myo Naung, Aung Thu, Myo Aung Naing, Thet Thet Aung, Thein Than
Tun, Tin Htoo Aung, Zaw Htet Ko Ko, Chit Ko Linn, Thaw Zin Tun, Aung Gyi @ Aung Thike Soe,
Saw Myo Min Hlaing, Thin Thin Aye(F), Sandar Min(F), Nwe Hnin Ye(F), Thara Phe Theint Theint
Tun(F), Aye Thida(F), San San Tin(F), Lay Lay Mon(F), Hnin May Aung(F). On August 7, Mar Mar
Oo (F) was arrested and on September 10, Nilar Thein (F), was arrested. On October 13, they were
added to this group.

Their seven defense lawyers were U Aung Thein, U Khin Maung Shein, Daw Khin Htay Kywe, U
Kyaw Hoe, U Myint Thaung, U Pho Phyu, and U Nyi Nyi Hlaing.

They were charged with 21 counts under the following laws:

1. Section 130/b of the Penal Code (committing depredation of foreign governments at peace with
Burma) for open criticism of China and Russia for their use of veto power to reject the Burma
resolution at the UN Security Council;
2. Section 4 of 'Endangering National Convention' (SPDC Law No. 5/96) for criticism of the national
convention and constitution writing process;
3. Section 17/20 of the Printers and Publishers Registration Act for failure to obtain permission to print
publicity pamphlets and for possession of printers without registration;
4. Section 33(a) of the Electronic Transactions Law;
5. Section 17 (1) of the Unlawful Association Act;
6. 24/1 of the Law Amending the control of money (for illegal possession of foreign currency);

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7. 32(b)/ 36 of the Television and Video Law;
8. Section 6 of the Organization of Association Law for forming an organization without permission;
9. 505(b) of the Penal Code for denouncing the government.

At the August 27 trial, nine student leaders (Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Pyone Cho, Mya Aye, Hla
Myo Naung, Nyan Lin, Aung Thu, Myo Aung Naing and Ko Htay Kywe) as well as the other detainees
demanded that they should not be handcuffed during the hearing and that their family members, public
and media should be allowed to attend the hearing.

During the September 10 hearing, they were still handcuffed, but their family members were allowed to
attend. The judge heard from the prosecutor who reportedly made his cases based on documents
obtained from Internet.

On October 15, 2008, all Township Courts handed over the cases to three District Courts: Rangoon
Eastern District Court, Rangoon Western District Court and Rangoon Northern District Court, all held
inside Insein prison compound.

The trial continued on October 27. Many defendants withdrew their attorney power from their lawyers,
as they believed the trial was not fair. Some refused to answer the questions of the prosecutors. Security
was still tight and the defendants were concerned for their safety. On October 29, the nine student
leaders (Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Pyone Cho, Mya Aye, Hla Myo Naung, Nyan Lin, Aung Thu, Myo
Aung Naing and Ko Htay Kywe) were sentenced by the Northern District Court inside Insein prison to
6 months imprisonment under section 228 of the Penal Code for contempt of court after refusing to
respond when asked by the judge them three times whether they were guilty of not. The presiding judge
at the trial ruled that the activists had "interrupted a public servant at a judicial proceeding" by
repeatedly asking for an open trial that relatives could attend, said attorney Aung Thein, one of three
lawyers for the activists. Some other defendants then stood up and demanded the judge to sentence
them too. Security forces surrounded the court and the judge ordered them to remove all the defendants
from the court and adjourned the trial. On October 31, the nine who were convicted were transferred to
Ma-ubin prison in the Irrawaddy Division.

On November 7th Aung Thein and Khin Maung Shein, lawyers in the case, were sentenced to four
months detention.

On November 11, Pyone Cho was sentenced, along with the eight other activists held at Ma-ubin, to 65
years in prison.

He was convicted of 5 counts of the indictment:

1. One charge under Section 6 of the Organization of Association Law for forming an organization
without permission; for this charge he was sentenced to 5 years.

2. Four charges under Section 33(a) of the Electronic Transactions Law; for each of these he was
sentenced to 15 years.

On the same day, fourteen of the original group of 35 held in Insein prison (Min Zeya, Zaw Zaw Min,
Kyaw Min Yu aka Jimmy, Than Tin aka Kyee Than, Zay Ya aka Kalama, Arnt Bwe Kyaw, Kyaw
Kyaw Htwe aka Marky, Pannate Tun, Thet Zaw, Thin Thin Aye aka Mie Mie, Mar Mar Oo, Nilar
Thein, Sandar Min aka Shwee, Thet Thet Aung) were also sentenced to 65 years on these same charges.

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On November 15, Pyone Cho and the other eight activists held at Ma-ubin were transferred back to
Insein prison. On Sunday, November 16, he was transferred to Kawthaung Prison in Tenasserim
division in the southernmost prison in Burma, around 800 miles from his home in Rangoon.

*This profile was prepared by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) on August 8, 2008, updated
on September 15, 2008, January 5 2009 and 24 April 2009, 11 Feb 2010.*

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