Confidante of Myanmar’s Suu Kyi dies after catching Covid in junta jail

Win’s death comes at a very critical time when the entire country of Myanmar is facing a soaring number of Covid cases

Aung San Suu Kyi’s confidante Nyan Win died in junta jail on Tuesday after becoming infected with Covid-19.

The 78-year-old spokesperson for the ousted Myanmar leader was a member of the National League for Democracy’s (NLD) Central Executive Committee.

Suu Kyi and Win, along with other top members of NLD, were arrested and deposed by the military during the 2021 Myanmar coup d’état after it declared the November 2020 general election results.

The coup sparked protests across the country, and Win was held in Yangon’s prison on charges of sedition.

“U Nyan Win was found with Covid symptoms on July 11 and transferred to Yangon General Hospital to get treatment,” a spokesman from the State Administration Council (junta), Zaw Min Tun said in a statement. “He died this morning (Tuesday 20 July) at 9 am in the hospital.”

“We have relied on him (Nyan Win) so much. I am so sad to have lost him,” Suu Kyi’s legal team told AFP. “But we will transform our sorrow into our strength to move forward.”

Win’s death comes at a very critical time when the entire country of Myanmar is facing a soaring number of Covid cases. Many medical workers likewise went on strike to protest the army’s seizure of power.

Hundreds of people in Yangon are dying daily, particularly from a lack of medical oxygen to help them breathe.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners’ survey of detention facilities, the nation’s overcrowded prisons are especially susceptible to the spread of the virus.

Min Tun revealed on Tuesday that 375 people have been confirmed to have Covid-19 in prisons across the country.

Earlier this year, Chinese authorities locked down Ruili, a Chinese city bordering Myanmar, blocking people from entering or leaving the city in Yunnan province and restricting residents in the urban area to their homes in a bid to contain the spread of the virus.