A university student died in a prison in central Myanmar due to neglect, an activist told Radio Free Asia on Friday.
Su May Aung died in Magway Prison after receiving poor medical treatment and not having access to medication for chronic illnesses, the Magway University Student Union said.
She died on Monday after being in jail for nearly two years.
The 22-year-old was sentenced to 15 years in prison under Section 50j of the country’s notorious counter-terrorism laws for financing terrorism, a common charge for civilians donating to resistance groups. She was sentenced in early 2022.
Su May Aung had suffered from lupus, as well as liver and heart diseases before the arrest, but died while undergoing emergency treatment at Magway Hospital, the Magway University Student Union statement said. She died as a result of “poor medicine in the prison,” according to the statement.
RFA contacted Magway University Student Union representatives by phone on Friday to learn more details about Su May Aung’s death, but the group could not be reached by the time of publication.
Calls to the deputy director general of the junta’s Naypyidaw Prison Department also went unanswered.
The junta’s prison department never officially releases news about deaths in prisons across the country, said Thaik Tun Oo, a member of the Myanmar Political Prisoners Network.
“We have learned that prison officials have been ordered from higher levels not to leak the information of these incidents in prison, according to the prison officials,” he told Radio Free Asia on Friday.
"[Officials] are also pressuring and threatening the remaining family members not to speak to the media too."
Su May Aung was a chemistry honors student at Magway University and opposed the military coup as part of the Civil Disobedience Movement after the junta seized power in Feb. 2021, the student union’s statement said, urging action from the international community.
According to a Myanmar Political Prisoners Network statement released on Dec. 31, 34 political prisoners died in jail in 2023. Among them, 18 were murdered and 16 people died as a result of medical neglect.
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.