Jailed for helping victims?

YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar's most famous comedian was sentenced Friday to 45 years in prison, in the latest and most high-profile case of citizens given long jail terms by the internationally-reviled military regime.

Zarganar was arrested with sports writer Zaw Thet Htwe in June after organising deliveries of aid to victims of Cyclone Nargis, which left 138,000 people dead or missing when it pulverised the country the previous month.

"(Zarganar) was sentenced to 45 years imprisonment on three charges... There are another four charges he has to stand trial for," Ma Nyein, Zarganar's sister told AFP.

She said Zaw Thet Htwe was handed a 15-year jail term on Friday.

The pair join more than 100 people jailed by the military-ruled courts over the past month, with more than 20 student activists handed maximum terms of 65 years for their part in Buddhist monk-led protests last year.

Ma Nyein was not allowed to attend the sentencing at the country's notorious Insein prison.

"I am proud of my brother. He did the right thing for the people," she said.

Zarganar's lawyer, Khin Htay Kywe, later told AFP she would appeal against her client's sentence.

Two other men were also jailed, for 29 and 15 years respectively, for their work in aiding the victims of the devastating cyclone.

Khin Htay Kywe said a monk who led street protests in August last year had received a prison sentence of 68 years, the highest handed down so far.

On Friday, the National League for Democracy party, led by detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, issued a statement urging the ruling junta to reconsider prison sentences for dozens of democracy activists who joined protests against the regime last year.

"This action not only leads to more difficulty instead of resolution for Myanmar's political situation but is also of concern to democracy activists and their family members," the statement said.

"It also means prohibiting the leading role of the new generation in Myanmar's political future," it said.

On November 11, 23 student leaders including Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Htay Kywe were sentenced to 65 years each after being arrested for leading a protest that began last August against hikes in fuel prices.

The three are part of an opposition group that emerged from a failed student-led uprising in 1988 known as the "88 Generation".

Soon after sentencing they were transferred along with other activists to different prisons around the country, far from their families who are mostly based in the economic hub Yangon.

An estimated 70 NLD members have been imprisoned over the past month and given jail terms of between two and 65 years for taking part in the protests that began sporadically but subsequently involved tens of thousands of people led by Buddhist monks.

Others jailed include a prominent blogger, a poet and nine monks.

At least 31 people were killed and 74 went missing in the brutal crackdown that followed the protests, according to the United Nations.

Separately, a female journalist arrested while reporting on Cyclone Nargis in May, Ein Khaing Oo, was sentenced to two years in jail while a male colleague received seven years, legal sources said.

On Tuesday five United Nations human rights experts joined the United States in condemning Myanmar for the sentences.

The experts "strongly urge the Myanmar authorities to cease harassing and arresting individuals for peacefully exercising their internationally recognised human rights", they said in a statement.

Rights groups have accused the generals of trying to curb dissent ahead of elections in 2010 which the junta says are part of its "roadmap" to democracy.

The NLD's spokesman Nyan Win told AFP that more activists were likely to be sentenced by the authorities this week.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.

The NLD won a landslide victory in 1990 elections but the junta never allowed them to take office.