Aung San Suu Kyi, sometimes abbreviated to Suu Kyi, is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2021. She has served as the general secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD) since the party's founding in 1988, and was registered as its chairperson while it was a legal party from 2011 to 2023. She played a vital role in Myanmar's transition from military junta to partial democracy in the 2010s.
The National League for Democracy is a deregistered liberal democratic political party in Myanmar (Burma). It became the country's ruling party after a landslide victory in the 2015 general election but was overthrown in a military coup d'état in early 2021 following another landslide election victory in 2020.
Win Tin was a Burmese journalist, politician and political prisoner. He co-founded the National League for Democracy (NLD). He was imprisoned by the military government for 19 years (1989–2008) for his writings and his leadership position in the NLD.
Paw Oo Tun ; better known by his alias Min Ko Naing, is a leading democracy activist and dissident from Myanmar. He has spent most of the years since 1988 imprisoned by the state for his opposition activities. The New York Times has described him as Burma's "most influential opposition figure after Daw Aung San Suu Kyi".
Tin Oo, often referred to as U Tin Oo, is a Burmese politician, activist and retired general in the Armed Forces who was one of the founders of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Myanmar, the country's largest pro-democracy political party.
Insein Prison is located in Yangon Division, near Yangon (Rangoon), the old capital of Myanmar. From 1988 to 2011 it was run by the military junta of Myanmar, named the State Law and Order Restoration Council from 1988 to 2003 and the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) from 2003 to 2011, and was used largely to repress political dissidents.
On 4 May 2009, American citizen John Yettaw trespassed upon the residence of Burmese political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi, two weeks before her scheduled release from house arrest on 27 May. This illegal visit prompted Suu Kyi's arrest on 13 May 2009. Yettaw himself was arrested by Burmese authorities on 6 May. He was charged on 14 May with illegally entering a restricted zone, illegal swimming and breaking immigration laws. It is illegal in Burma to have a guest stay overnight at one's home without notifying the authorities first.
Sandar Min is a Burmese politician and former political prisoner who currently serves as a Yangon Region Hluttaw MP for Seikkyi Kanaungto Township № 1 constituency. She previously served as a House of Representatives MP for Zabuthiri Township constituency.
Ko Ko Gyi is a Burmese politician and leading democracy activist. For his protests against the military government, he spent over 17 years in prison on multiple occasions between 1989 and 2012. He was considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. BBC News describes him as a key member of the 8888 Generation movement. He is one of the country's most prominent activists, second only to Min Ko Naing.
Than Nyein was a Burmese politician and physician. He was one of the founders of the National Democratic Force (NDF) party, after working for the National League for Democracy (NLD) since its inception in 1988.
Nyan Win was a Burmese politician and Aung San Suu Kyi's personal attorney. Nyan Win served on the National League for Democracy's Central Executive Committee and was a party spokesman. He also served as a legal advisor to the NLD.
Win Htein is a Burmese politician and former inmate who served as a Pyithu Hluttaw MP for Meiktila Township. He is a patron and member of the Central Executive Committee of National League for Democracy (NLD), for which he acts as official spokesperson. Win Htein is considered to be one of the closest confidantes of NLD chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi. On the morning of 5 February 2021, he was charged with sedition and moved to the capital of Naypyidaw On 29 October 2021, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison and he was transferred from a Naypyitaw detention centre to Obo Prison in Mandalay.
Phyo Min Thein is a Burmese politician and former political prisoner who is currently serving as Chief Minister of Yangon Region and Yangon Region Parliament MP for Hlegu Township Constituency No. 2. Prior to this, he was the chairman of Union Democratic Party and founder of the People Democracy Party which was later merged with Union Democratic Party.
Pyone Cho ; born Htay Win Aung; born 2 April 1966), whose name means "sweet smile" in Burmese, is an activist and former political prisoner, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Representatives for Dawbon Township in Yangon, from 2015 to 2021. He was elected as a Regional Parliamentary Member for Dawbon Township for Yangon Division in the 2020 elections, but was unable to serve due to the military coup of 2021. He is an internationally recognized human rights activist, as well as a former student organizer and leader of the 8888 Uprising in Myanmar.
Brigadier General Aung Shwe was a Burmese politician and a member of General Ne Win's Burma Rifles rising to Brigadier General. He was one of the founders and former President of the National League for Democracy who took charge of the party when Aung San Suu Kyi and Tin Oo were under house arrest in the early 1990s and 2000s.
Naw Ohn Hla is a Karen democracy activist, politician, human rights defender, environmental rights and land rights activist for decades. She has been active in campaigning against the Letpadaung mining project in northern Myanmar. Naw Ohn Hla is the general secretary of United Nationalities Democracy Party (UNDP).
Thet Thet Khine is a Burmese politician, physician and businesswoman who is the Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement appointed by the military junta after the coup d'état in 2021. She was a member of parliament in the House of Representatives for Dagon Township constituency in 2015 elections but did not win her seat at Mayangone Township when she ran in 2020 elections on her newly established People's Pioneer Party platform. She owns a number of gold, jewelry, and gem production companies as well as a real estate business.
Myo Aung is a Burmese politician and physician who formerly served as an Amyotha Hluttaw MP for Kayin State No. 9 constituency and Chairman of the Naypyidaw Council and Naypyidaw Development Committee. He is a member of the National League for Democracy.
A coup d'état in Myanmar began on the morning of 1 February 2021, when democratically elected members of the country's ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were deposed by the Tatmadaw—Myanmar's military—which then vested power in a military junta. Acting president Myint Swe proclaimed a year-long state of emergency and declared power had been transferred to Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Min Aung Hlaing. It declared the results of the November 2020 general election invalid and stated its intent to hold a new election at the end of the state of emergency. The coup d'état occurred the day before the Parliament of Myanmar was due to swear in the members elected at the 2020 election, thereby preventing this from occurring. President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi were detained, along with ministers, their deputies, and members of Parliament.
Sean Turnell is an Australian economist and former economic policy advisor to State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar. He is also an honorary professor of economics at Macquarie University, a former staff member of the Reserve Bank of Australia, and the director of research at the Myanmar Development Institute.
