Myanmar Democracy Activists Honored in Prague as Fellow Laureate Serves 37-Year Sentence -

Prague, Czech Republic — Myanmar’s pro-democracy activists received international recognition in Prague on Sunday evening, with one of the honorees imprisoned at home—a stark illustration of the cost of peaceful resistance to military rule.

The General Strike Coordination Body (GSCB) and activists Tayzar San, Nan Lin and Htet Myat Aung received the sixth Forum 2000 International Award for Courage and Responsibility at the opening of the 30th Forum 2000 Conference. The award recognizes their leadership in sustaining civic resistance since Myanmar’s February 2021 military coup.

Myanmar Global Media is covering the event in Prague, where the ceremony at the Prague Congress Centre put Myanmar’s democracy movement before an international audience of political leaders, human rights advocates and civil society representatives.

Htet Myat Aung, a former president of the Yadanarbon University Students’ Union and a protest organizer in Mandalay, was arrested in December 2025, tortured and subsequently sentenced to 37 years in prison, according to the Forum 2000 Foundation’s account. His imprisonment gave the recognition particular urgency. Fellow laureates Tayzar San and Nan Lin continue organizing despite arrest warrants and threats to their lives, the foundation said.

“You are leaving a legacy not only as individuals, but also as builders of a network that continues to function, adapt, and inspire,” Forum 2000 Foundation Executive Director Jakub Klepal said in the award announcement.

Klepal praised the coalition’s ability to unite people across social, ethnic and political divisions, describing its work as evidence that organized, nonviolent resistance can endure extreme repression.

Established on March 30, 2021, the GSCB brings together dozens of strike committees and civil society organizations, including student groups, trade unionists, ethnic strike committees and representatives of the Civil Disobedience Movement. Its activities include general strikes, boycotts and other protest actions involving citizens and workers.

The individual honorees represent different strands of that movement. Tayzar San, a physician and librarian, helped launch resistance to the coup by organizing an early protest in February 2021. He is a member of both the GSCB and the Mandalay Anti-Junta Forces Coordination Committee. Nan Lin, a student leader and co-founder of university student unions, organized peaceful demonstrations in Yangon. After the military suppressed mass protests, he spent years in hiding while continuing to organize and participate in flash demonstrations. Htet Myat Aung played a leading role in peaceful protests in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, before his arrest.

Three Myanmar activists accepted the award on behalf of the recipients: Chan, a founding member of Women Alliance Burma; Stan, secretary of the Anti-Junta Forces Coordination Committee Mandalay; and Bhone Thit, a former political prisoner and democracy activist from the University Students’ Unions Alumni Force.

Miloš Vystrčil, president of the Czech Senate, presented the award. In remarks reported by the Czech News Agency, he urged democracies to turn admiration for courageous activists into practical support, stressing that solidarity must extend beyond national borders.

The conference continues through October 13, with discussions focused on democratic cooperation and solidarity. This year also marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of Forum 2000 co-founder and former Czech president Václav Havel, whose legacy of civic responsibility and resistance to oppression informs the gathering.

For Myanmar’s honorees, the ceremony recognized a movement still operating under repression—and a fellow activist facing decades behind bars for his role in peaceful resistance.

The Prague honor follows international recognition in the United States. On September 10, the National Endowment for Democracy presented its 2026 Democracy Award for Freedom of Assembly to the pro-democracy organizers of Myanmar’s Spring Revolution at George Washington’s Mount Vernon in Virginia. Nan Lin accepted on behalf of the movement through a prerecorded message from an undisclosed location in Myanmar, where threats to his safety prevented him from attending.