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Win Htein has spent most of the past two decades behind bars, ending his latest period of imprisonment on July 15, when he was released two months after completing a 14-year sentence. The 69-year-old former army captain once served as a personal assistant to Tin Oo, the vice-chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD), when he was commander-in-chief of the Burmese military under Ne Win. He also worked as an aide to NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi when she made organizing trips around Burma in 1988-89.

Irrawaddy reporter Sai Zum Sai spoke with Win Htein soon after his release.

Question: Please tell us about your prison life. 

Win Htein (Photo: AP)

Answer: I was imprisoned twice—for five years from 1989 to 1995 and then for 14 years and two months from 1996 until my recent release. I was held in Myingyan, Mandalay, Meikhtila and Kathar prisons. I was released from Kathar this time. There were many hardships in prison. At first, the most difficult thing was the lack of food, which was really depressing. But after a while, I got used to having little to eat. I was not ill-treated during these past few years, except for occasionally being subjected to lectures. I'm not sure why. Perhaps the prison authorities were ordered not to.

Q: When did they stop torturing you?
 
A: In 1999.

Q: Were you released because you had completed your prison term?

A: Yes, I think so.

Q: You were released in 2008 but rearrested. Why?

A: I was released on Sept. 23, 2008, and arranged to stay overnight at the Irrawaddy guest house in Kathar. The next day I was sent to Mandalay and then to Rangoon. I felt happy and called my family. Unexpectedly, a news agency contacted me for an interview, and I simply said what was on my mind. I said the regime’s sentencing of pro-democracy activists to 65 or 100 years in prison was outrageous and totally unfair. I also spoke about the poor state of health care inside the prisons. So the next day, a police colonel asked me to come with him and threw me back in jail.

Q: Were you then put on trial in prison again?

A: No. My 14-year prison term was not completed at that time. But when it ended two months ago, they still didn't release me.

Q: So you were held for longer than you should have been?

A: Yes, you could say that.

Q: When you were in prison, did you ever receive a letter of encouragement from NLD leaders such as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi or U Tin Oo?

A: The authorities did not allow that kind of communication. Sometimes, I received letters from my family. They also sent me food, journals and books.

Q: How did an army officer become a member of the NLD?

A: At the time the NLD was established, I was no longer in the army. I had already quit. I became close to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi because Vice-Chairman U Tin Oo asked me to assist her in her political work. I was with her the whole time she was traveling around the country. In May 1989, many NLD members were arrested while they were organizing a meeting. Some were thrown in jail, while others were put under house arrest. I was also arrested at that time and detained from Jan. 20, 1989 until 1995.

Q: What do you think of the upcoming election and Dr Than Nyein's decision to leave the NLD and form the National Democratic Force (NDF)?

A: I have nothing to say about the election, because we have already decided not to register. As for Dr Than Nyein and [fellow NDF leader] U Khin Maung Swe, they can do as they wish since they have the right to do so.