U Win Tin was a political prisoner for 19 years. He has been released together with six other political prisoners.
He was arrested in July 1989 because of his senior position in the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy.
His party won 82 percent of seats in the 1990 general election, but Burma/Myanmar's military government refused to hand over power.
U Win Tin was held in solitary confinement for much of his time in prison and has chronic health problems.
He experienced torture, lack of access to medical treatment, and was held for three months in 1996 in a cell for military dogs, made to sleep on concrete floors without bedding and deprived of food and water for long periods.
U Win Tin's release comes as a significant success for Amnesty International which worked tirelessly for his release.
There remain over 2,000 political prisoners in Burma/Myanmar. It is not immediately clear why U Win Tin was released now.
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