Nilar Thein

Nilar Thein
Nilar Thein shortly after her release in 2012
Born	(1972-03-04) March 4, 1972 (age 45) Rangoon, Burma
Nationality	Burmese
Occupation	Activist
Criminal penalty	65 years
Criminal status	Pardoned
Spouse(s)	Kyaw Min Yu (Ko Jimmy)
Children	Phyu Nay Kyi Min Yu
Parent(s)	U Thein, Daw Aye Mu
Awards	Homo Homini Award (2008)

Nilar Thein (Burmese: နီလာသိန်း, pronounced: [nìlà θéiɴ]) is a Burmese democracy activist and political prisoner imprisoned from 2008 to 2012 at Thayet prison in Burma's Magway Region. Amnesty International considered her a prisoner of conscience.

Nilar Thein is from Yangon, Burma. She and her future husband, Kyaw Min Yu (better known as "Ko Jimmy"), participated in 1988's pro-democracy 8888 Uprising, opposing the continued rule of the military dictatorship State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). In 1990, she was imprisoned for two months for her participation in protests. In December 1996, she was arrested for organizing protests and sentenced to ten years imprisonment, which she served at Thayawaddy prison. She reported being abused and sexually harassed by prison staff during this sentence, stating that "under the prison chief, U Win Myint, prisoners sentenced for rape were kept next to the women’s building... Prison staff and these prisoners would come and peep at us while we took our baths." She was released in 2003. In 2005, she married Kyaw Min Yu. At around the same time, she joined the newly formed 88 Generation Students Group.

In August 2007, anti-government protests (popularly known as the "Saffron Revolution" for the prominent involvement of Buddhist monks) broke out in Yangon in response to increasing fuel and commodity prices. As a part of the protests, Nilar Thein organized a march of roughly 500 people to protest government policies. When police began seeking the organizers of the protest, Nilar Thein went into hiding. Her husband had already been arrested on the night of 21 August and sent to Insein Prison.