Suu Kyi leads tributes to NLD co-founder Win Tin

The former journalist and veteran campaigner, whose almost two decades in jail failed to dull his commitment to the democratic cause, had suffered worsening ill health in recent weeks. 

He died in hospital in Yangon early Monday, National League for Democracy (NLD) party spokesman Nyan Win said. A funeral service will be held today.

Win Tin, a towering figure within the democracy movement, formed the NLD with Aung San Suu Kyi in 1988 in the wake of a student-led pro-democracy uprising. He was imprisoned the following year for his political activities.

He reiterated his support for party leader Suu Kyi in the days before he died, according to his long-time assistant Yar Zar.

“It is like the world has been lost. But we have many things to do. We will continue as he asked and will follow his way to democracy,” he said.

Myanmar began its emergence from nearly half a century of military rule in 2011. Suu Kyi, who was freed from years of house arrest in 2010, has also been welcomed into parliament, but the army retains a tight grip on the institution. 

Win Tin, bespectacled and with a shock of white hair, possessed an urbane manner that belied his steely nature. His death was met with profound sadness within the democracy movement. Dozens of mourners gathered for a memorial service at a Yangon church on Monday.

Suu Kyi penned a short note in homage to her longtime ally, praising him as the “pride of the country, pride of humanity”, according to a release by the NLD. US Ambassador Derek Mitchell said Win Tin was an “inspiration to all those everywhere who are dedicated to seeking and speaking the truth in the face of injustice”.

Win Tin was freed by the former military junta from Yangon’s Insein prison as part of an amnesty in September 2008. During his incarceration he had been interrogated for up to five days at a time, deprived of sleep, hooded and beaten.

From 1996 he was also kept in solitary confinement and allowed only fleeting 15-minute visits from family every two weeks. 

He began his career as a journalist in Yangon in the early 1950s. In 1962 General Ne Win seized power in a coup, plunging the country into tyranny. “The reason I became a politician is because of military governments. They put pressure on us. They seized the newspapers...  As I have many contacts in politics, I reached into politics,” Win Tin said last year.