Naing Koko, a campaigner for ‘democracy in Burma’ fled Myanmar after seven years in jail for sticking up political posters in Rangoon. He’s now in Wellington calling for political change in his country, and talks to Rebekah Burgess.

NAING Koko has dedicated his life to his people in the country formerly known as Burma.
It was renamed Union of Myanmar by the military government in 1989 – but Koko does not recognise the name.
“It was changed by gun, not by vote, not by heart.”
As an educated single man – who thus far hasn’t married because of his dedication to social equality - he believes he has a responsibility to help some 2200 people imprisoned for democratic protests in the poorest country in Southeast Asia. Myanmar has been under military rule since a 1962 coup.
Some – like Koko – have been punished for smuggling dictionaries, English grammar books and magazines into the prison. As a prisoner he used to pay the guards in food for the material – a Time magazine was worth $10 to them – “In Burma this is one months’ salary”.
“No political prisoner [is] allowed to read or write so I violated the prison law because I wanted to learn English myself.”
In 1992 aged 21, he says he was arrested for fixing posters with democratic slogans around the city of Rangoon.
He spent the time in solitary confinement. His punishment for teaching himself tertiary level English was nearly seven months in the dog cell, an experience he finds “emotional” to talk about. He had to behave like a dog: crawl on his hands and knees, and when his name was called he’d have to answer like a dog. His food and water was placed directly on the floor and he’d have to eat like a dog.
He was released in March 1998, and crossed to Thailand. He gained honours in philosophy, politics and economics from Rangsit University, with a US scholarship through Prospect Burma, a charity for the education of exiled students.
Koko is now a refugee in New Zealand and graduated from Auckland University last year with a Masters in International Relations and now works fulltime at Massey University in Wellington. He moved to the capital in the hope that he could inspire political change in his home country by lobbying New Zealand’s Government.
He left his mum and dad and two sisters in Myanmar – one a lawyer, another working in economics. Another sister and one brother live in New York. His dad died in April. He hasn’t seen any blood relations since 1998.
“Everybody misses Burma. I haven’t seen my mum for years. Even [in] the prison I saw my mum behind the wall. I couldn’t touch her.”
Koko wants to return to his country but says “if I work in Burma I will be arrested again and will be given the death penalty. I need to speak out on behalf of my people from the outside.”
The country’s first election in more than 20 years is set for November 7, but Koko is suspicious.
“There’s no freedom of assembly. Officially 25% of the seats are reserved for the military personnel and 75% for civilians. Those civilians come from the military generals; they just change their clothes to run the country. They are still holding the power. There’s no genuine election in Burma. This is totally rubbish selection: general selection.”