12 Facts About Ohn Than

Ohn Than spent the majority of the years from 1988 to 2012 imprisoned, and Amnesty International considered him a prisoner of conscience.

Ohn Than was born in 1946 in Ngathinechaung Township, Irrawaddy Division.

Ohn Than is a widower, and has one son and one daughter.

Ohn Than became involved in the uprising at this time, leading protests in Shwegoo township in Kachin State.

Ohn Than was arrested and sentenced to 8 years' imprisonment under the Emergency Provision Act, Section 5.

Ohn Than passed one and a half years of this sentence at Bamaw prison and four and a half years at Mandalay prison before his 1995 release.

Ohn Than was sentenced again under Emergency Provision Act, Section 5 and imprisoned for seven more years, this time in Tharrawaddy prison.

On 21 September 2004, Ohn Than staged his first solo protest, standing alone before the Yangon office of the United Nations Development Program with a poster calling for free elections and a UN investigation of the "Depayin Massacre".

Ohn Than held up posters calling for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to intervene to protect protesters from military reprisals, and for troops in the Tatmadaw to refuse the orders of their superiors.

Ohn Than's protest ended when he was arrested by plainclothes security forces.

Ohn Than was moved between three different prisons, ending at Khamti prison in Sagiang Division.

Ohn Than's sentence was protested by Human Rights Watch, which included him in its report Burma's Forgotten Prisoners.