Two Prominent Myanmar Ex-Political Prisoners Die Hours Apart in Yangon

Two former political prisoners—prominent writer Maung Tha Cho and anti-regime Buddhist monk Shwe Nya Wa Sayadaw—died on Thursday morning while being treated at hospitals in Yangon.

The writer was known for his satirical pieces criticizing the Myanmar military before the coup, while Shwe Nya War gained prominence for his decades of anti-military dictatorship activism.

Both were arrested on Feb. 1, 2021, the day the military staged a coup, arresting all elected civilian government leaders. Maung Tha Cho was prosecuted under Section 505 (a) of the penal code for two articles he wrote in 2020 criticizing the military. Shwe Nya Wa Sayadaw was prosecuted for “offenses against the state” under Section 505 (b). Both were sentenced to two years’ imprisonment by the regime, both were released from Insein Prison under an amnesty on the same day on Nov. 17, 2022—and tragically both would also pass away on the same day.