Phyo Zeya Thaw

His Excellency U Phyo Zeya Thaw MP
ဖြိုးဇေယျာသော်
Phyo Zeya Thaw in 2011
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 1 February 2016 – 1 February 2021
Preceded by	Sandar Min
Constituency	Zabuthiri Township
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 2 May 2012 – 29 January 2016
Preceded by	Tin Aung Myint Oo
Succeeded by	Tun Thit
Constituency	Pobbathiri Township
Personal details
Born	(1981-03-26)26 March 1981 Yangon, Burma
Died	23 July 2022(2022-07-23) (aged 41) Insein Prison, Yangon, Myanmar
Cause of death	Execution by hanging
Nationality	Burmese
Political party	National League for Democracy
Spouse	Thazin Nyunt Aung
Parents	Mya Thaw (father) Khin Win May (mother)
Education	BEHS No. 6 Botahtaung
Alma mater	Yadanabon University
Occupation	Politician, rapper

Phyo Zeya Thaw (Burmese: ဖြိုးဇေယျာသော်; pronounced [pʰjò zèjà θɔ̀], also referred to as Zeya Thaw (Burmese: ဇေယျာသော်; pronounced [zèjà θɔ̀]; 26 March 1981 – 23 July 2022) was a Burmese politician and hip hop recording artist who was detained and executed due to the perceived anti-government messages in his lyrics. Amnesty International designated him as a prisoner of conscience.^[1] He served as a member of Pyithu Hluttaw, the Lower House of the Burmese parliament. Phyo Zeya Thaw, alongside opposition leader and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, was elected to the lower house on 1 April 2012.

In November 2021 Phyo Zeya Thaw was arrested by the Myanmar military junta and was sentenced to death in January 2022. In June 2022, the junta announced that his execution was imminent.^[2] On 23 July 2022, Phyo Zeya Thaw and three other democratic activists, including Kyaw Min Yu (Ko Jimmy), were executed.^[3]