Taunggok NLD chair’s jail term extended by 15 years - Min Aung

Jan 5, 2009 (DVB)–Burmese authorities last month extended the sentence of Taunggok township National League for Democracy chairman Min Aung, who had been serving a two-and-a-half-year jail term in Sagaing's Kalay prison.

NLD spokesperson and information wing member Nyan Win said Min Aung was sentenced to an additional 15 years in prison under the electronics act at a court hearing held in Sagaing division's Tamu township from 10 to 17 December.

Min Aung was detained by the authorities in October 2007 after the monk-led demonstrations in September and was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison four days later.

His term was later reduced to two and a half years and he was transferred from Rangoon's Insein prison to Sandoway prison, and then later to Mandalay prison.

In March 2008, Min Aung was transferred to Kalay prison in Sagaing division.

"We just can't understand this - he has been in prison for over a year and obviously was not able to take part in any [political] activities during that time," said Nyan Win.

"Min Aung told his father who visited him not long ago that he had been brought to Tamu court where he had 15 more years added to his term for an offence he didn’t know about," he said.

"It's like [the authorities] are deliberately making it impossible for these people to leave the prison, and sending someone to jail for something he or she doesn’t know about is not fair at all."

Reporting by Khin Hnin Htet