Nine Burmese activists get six months for contempt of court

Nine leaders of the 88 Generation Student Group, an activist group established during 1988 anti-government demonstrations, were tossed out of the Rangoon court Wednesday, said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which is based on the Thai-Burma border and monitors the treatment of political prisoners in Burma. 

During the court hearing, Min Ko Naing and other defendants reportedly stood up and complained about the lack of a free and independent judiciary, prompting the presiding judge to accuse them of interrupting court procedures and sentence them.

The nine jailed were Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Mya Aye, Pyone Cho, Aung Thu, Htay Kywe, Nyan Lin, Myo Aung Naing, and Hla Myo Naung, the association said in a press statement.  

"Trials for political prisoners are grossly unfair," said Ko Tate, association secretary. "In this case, 88 Generation leaders have been harshly punished simply for calling for their right to a free and fair trial to be respected."     

The nine defendants were on trial for undermining national security by organising and participating in peaceful demonstrations against the government in August and September of last year.

The protests, which were eventually led by Buddhist monks, were violently suppressed by the military on September 26-27, leaving more than 30 dead, scores missing and thousands under arrest.

Almost a year after the crackdown, those accused of leading the demonstrations are being handed long jail terms.

On October 24, a Mandalay court sentenced six opposition leaders to prison terms of up to 13 years on charges of threatening national "tranquility" and stirring up hatred.

The six senior members of the National League for Democracy, the political party led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, were arrested in September and October last year in a nationwide crackdown on dissent following the Buddhist monk-led protests in Rangoon.

They were charged under a section of the criminal code that prohibits the "publishing or circulation of any statement, rumour or report" with intent to disturb public tranquility and any actions that "attempt to promote feelings of enmity or hatred between different classes."//Deutsche Presse-Agentur - October 30, 2008