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Myanmar court hands comedian 45-year prison term
AP - Saturday, November 22
YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's courts continued a crackdown on activists, handing out a 45-year prison sentence to a comedian who went to the delta to help cyclone victims and criticized the junta's slow relief response.
Comedian and activist Zarganar, whose birth name is Maung Thura, on Friday joined the at least 100 people to have received sentences of two to 65 years since early November. Many of the trials were held in closed sessions, sometimes without defense lawyers or family present.
The military government's wave of harsh sentences has been condemned by Western governments and human rights groups. They contend that the sentences make a mockery of the junta's professed plan to restore democracy with a 2010 election.
The government is holding more than 2,100 political prisoners, up sharply from nearly 1,200 in June 2007 _ before last year's pro-democracy demonstrations, according to international human rights groups.
The United Nations General Assembly's human rights committee approved a resolution Friday expressing "grave concern" at the extension of the house arrest of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, "as well as the high and increasing number of political prisoners" in Myanmar.
Monks inspired and led protests that the army violently suppressed in September 2007. The authorities began their crackdown by raiding several monasteries in Yangon in the middle of the night and hauling away monks.
Among those sentenced Friday was Buddhist monk Ashin Gambira, who helped organize the protests, said a lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of antagonizing the government. The monk's 12-year sentence and prison terms for earlier charges brought his total to 68 years in jail.
Myanmar's military, which has held power since 1962, brooks no dissent. It frequently arrests artists and entertainers regarded as opposing their regime, even those making seemingly innocuous wisecracks.
Zarganar, whose name means "tweezers" and whose comedy routines are banned for their jokes about the junta, joined several activists in delivering relief supplies to the Irrawaddy delta after it was shattered by a cyclone in May that killed more than 84,000 people.
He was arrested in June after criticizing the junta's slow response in interviews with foreign news outlets. He was sentenced for violating the Electronics Act, which regulates all forms of electronic communication, and he still faces other charges, said his lawyer, Khin Htay Kywe.
Zarganar has been imprisoned several times before, including a three-week stint for providing aid to Buddhist monks during last year's demonstrations.
Three associates were tried with him. Sportswriter Zaw Thet Htwe and video journalist Thant Zin Aung were each sentenced to 15 years and face further charges, while Tin Maung Aye got 29 years, Zarganar's lawyer said.
Those sentenced recently included some 70 members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party.
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