Phyu Phyu Thin
Phyu Phyu Thin is a Burmese politician and HIV/AIDS activist who served as a House of Representatives MP for Mingala Taungnyunt Township from 2012 until her removal from office in the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état.
Political imprisonment
On May 21, 2007, Phyu Phyu Thin was arrested by police in Yangon for organizing a prayer rally to call for the release of detained National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Never told what crime she had committed, she was held for more than a month, and was released on July 2, 2007.As an activist, Phyu Phyu Thin has been an outspoken critic of the State Peace and Development Council, which she says is understating the number of HIV and AIDS cases in Myanmar. She operates a clinic in Yangon that provides treatment, medicine and counseling to HIV and AIDS patients. The United States Department of State also called for Phyu Phyu Thin's release.
While in detention, Phyu Phyu Thin staged a hunger strike, taking only liquids for about one week. Her family, which had not been told where she was being held, said it would file a missing person's case with police.
Phyu Phyu Thin has previously been detained in 2000, after she and other Suu Kyi supporters were bundled away by police from a rally for Suu Kyi. She was held for a time in Insein prison.