Political prisoner Ko San Lin San, who was jailed under the Counterterrorism Law, died at Pathein Prison in Ayeyarwady Region on December 30. His family says he was tortured to death.
Prison authorities said the singer and composer died of hydrocephalus, excessive fluid within the brain.
Ko San Lin San, 29, was badly beaten during interrogation until two wooden sticks broke, said a relative.
The relative said: “He told me when he was brought to trial that he had some nine or 10 bumps and that they felt gloppy. He said he was shocked with a stun gun, he was slapped in his ears, he could not hear for two days and his ears bled.”
Ko San Lin San did have hydrocephalus but it had been cured around eight years ago, said the relative, who insisted that he died due to brutal beatings in an interrogation center and prison.
The family was allowed to hold a funeral but was barred from taking photos of his body. The body was wrapped in white cloth and only the head was exposed. Stitches were visible, said his elder sister.
The family requested for Ko San Lin San to be treated at a hospital outside the prison and was reportedly only given basic medication in prison.
Ko San Lin San could not eat by himself due to his injuries and he was immobile and needed two people to assist him to walk, according to prison sources.
One source said: “He had a crick in his neck and could not walk. It was visible that he could barely walk since he was in Pyapon Prison [in Ayeyarwady Region]. He could not walk by himself after he was transferred to Pathein. He had got permanent injuries during the beatings. There was no doubt that he died because of the lack of access to medical treatment.”
Ko San Lin San of Pyapon was a distance learner in his second year at Maubin University, majoring in history. He was a singer popular among young people.
He led anti-regime protests following the 2021 coup. He fled his house in March that year after making his name as a protest leader in Pyapon. He was arrested in September 2022.
The regime accused him of being the leader of the Black Dragon Force in Pyapon and being responsible for an anti-junta attack in August 2022. Ko San Lin San was prosecuted along with other young men.
At a trial inside Pyapon Prison, which lasted nearly a year, he was given a death sentence for two alleged murders plus 60 years under the Counterterrorism Law.
A 23-year-old political prisoner jailed under the Counterterrorism Law also died in Yangon’s Insein Prison in December. Ma Cherry Win was suffering from a high fever and did not receive proper medical treatment and died on December 21.
Myanmar’s regime bars families from sending medicine to inmates, does not provide proper medical treatment and fails to promptly transfer emergency patients to civilian hospitals, said the Myanmar Political Prisoners Network. An estimated 18 political prisoners died in prison in 2023, according to the network.