Burmese student unions and rights groups in exile called for the immediate release of Min Ko Naing, the student leader who was arrested 15 years ago today. Despite his long detention, a former colleague in Rangoon says the leader’s spirit is still strong.

Paw Oo Htun, better known as Min Ko Naing, or "Conqueror of Kings," was arrested by Burma’s military intelligence in 1989 for his leadership role during the nationwide democracy uprisings a year earlier. In 1988 he also became chairman of the All Burma Federation of Students’ Unions, or ABFSU, which is now banned in Burma. Min Ko Naing is now detained in Sittwe Jail, more than 300 miles northwest of Rangoon.

A joint statement released today by the ABFSU and Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma, or AAPP, two Burmese groups in exile, called his arrest unjust.

Min Ko Naing is in good health but getting thin, said one of his colleague’s who was recently released from another prison after serving 14 years for his leading role in the movement. The colleague was given information by the student leader’s family, who also said Min Ko Naing has asked for various kinds of books from relatives, indicating the leader must spend much of his time reading. Only recently, however, have authorities granted permission for inmates to possess books in prison.

Throughout Min Ko Naing’s 15-year-imprisonment, the student leader has been kept in solitary confinement. His family can only visit him twice a year since the jail is far away from their home in Rangoon, said the colleague.

Min Ko Naing’s colleague said the junta’s detention of the student leader shows that they are still afraid of him. The military leaders feel that Min Ko Naing has the power to "re-ignite the flame of democracy" among students if he is released, he added.

Despite having already completed his 10-year sentence in July 1999, the student leader is now being detained under Article 10(a) of the State Protection Act that allows the authorities to detain individuals without trial for up to five years.

Bo Kyi, joint secretary of the AAPP, said that Min Ko Naing is due to be released in July in accordance with the law, but he is not sure whether he will be set free. Bo Kyi, who is a close friend of Min Ko Naing, also feels that military leaders are afraid to release the student leader.

Bo Kyi, who is also a former political prisoner, recalled Min Ko Naing’s casual meeting with Burma’s deputy home minister who visited Insein Jail in 1997 when Min Ko Naing was detained there. Bo Kyi recounted Min Ko Naing as telling the official, "The fact you don’t dare release me shows that I am defeating you."