Learn more about Burma’s other imprisoned heroes.

Ko Ko Gyi is a celebrated Burmese human rights activist with a long history of defending human rights in Burma. In 1988, he and other student leaders led a peaceful demonstration on the campus of Rangoon University protesting the unfair treatment of the student protestors at Rangoon Institute of Technology (RIT). Among others, he was one of many who were violently beaten by the riot police while marching from Rangoon University to RIT. He became the vice-president of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) in August 1988 under Min Ko Naing and was an active participant and leader in the 1988 uprising. For his involvement in the 1988 protests, he was detained for 44 days. In 1991, he was arrested again and sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment with hard labor. After fourteen years, he was finally released from prison in March 2005.

Ko Ko Gyi, “The Strategist,” continues to have confidence that a democratic Burma is possible. He and other student leaders of the 88 generation gathered again in 2007 to organize what is now called the Saffron Revolution, demanding human rights and protesting the sudden spike of fuel prices. In August 2007, he and several others were detained and arrested for political dissent. His sentence is currently 65 years in Mai Sat prison, where he risks torture and deteriorating health. Already, he suffers a digestive problem because of the substandard nutrition provided in Burma’s political prisons.

In a moving article, George Packer of The New Yorker further reflects on the lives of both Ko Ko Gyi and Min Ko Naing. See below for more photographs of Ko Ko Gyi.

Learn more about Burma’s other imprisoned heroes.