The following text is not a historical study. It is a retelling of the witness’s life story based on the memories recorded in the interview. The story was processed by external collaborators of the Memory of Nations. In some cases, the short biography draws on documents made available by the Security Forces Archives, State District Archives, National Archives, or other institutions. These are used merely to complement the witness’s testimony. The referenced pages of such files are saved in the Documents section.

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Than Zaw (* 1963)

• born in South Oakkalapa Township, Rangoon

• former youth member of the National League for Democracy

• mprisoned in 1989 to 2012

• currently working for Mizzima Media group since July, 2017

Than Zaw was a former youth member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and participated earnestly in people power uprising known as 88 uprising. Than Zaw was alleged role in bombing the Thanlyin Oil Refinery due to policy of military regime to tyrannize the members of NLD party. He was arrested at night in 1989 and interrogated for five days in interrogation center. He was tortured by using many techniques during interrogation. He was made to stand in the ‘prison punishment’ position (hands on the back of the head, standing on toes, and bent at the waist, maintaining a straight back in preparation for beatings) while nails were placed under his feet to force him to stay in the position. He was also forced to assume the ‘flying the airplane’ (arms stretched out to the side, standing on one leg, bent over at the waist) and the ‘riding a motorbike’ (hand held out in front of the body, bending the knees in a squat) position for lengthy intervals. Besides this, he was forced to crouch down on his elbows and knees touching the ground, his fingers and toes were forced to remain untouched and he was repeatedly beaten on the head with a ruler. He was also made to hear the voices of relatives in an adjacent room, forcing him to make a confession. Later on, he was sentenced to death penalty. Although the actual bomber, a Karen National Union major named Ko Ko Naing, confessed to the crime and was released in 2005, Than Zaw continued to languish in prison. Despite his innocence, he was first sentenced to death, later commuted in appeal to life in prison. His parent died while he was imprisoned and his family was not able to prison visit regularly, therefore he faced difficulties. He was released in 2012 and he spent for 23 years in prison. He works as an editor of a journal and lives in Rangoon with family.