YANGON, Myanmar November 21, 2008 (AP)
The Associated Press
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In this Sept. 24, 2007 file photo, Myanmar comedian Zarganar, who uses only one name, is seen...
In this Sept. 24, 2007 file photo, Myanmar comedian Zarganar, who uses only one name, is seen joining a street protest in Yangon, Myanmar. Courts in military-ruled Myanmar handed long prison sentences Friday Nov. 21 2008, to a prominent Buddhist monk and a popular comedian who are active in the country's pro-democracy movement, rounding out two weeks of an intensive judicial crackdown on activists. Comedian and activist Maung Thura _ who is better known by his stage name, Zarganar _ was sentenced to 45 years imprisonment for violations of the Electronics Act, which regulates all forms of electronic communication, said his lawyer, Khin Htay Kywe. (AP Photo, File)
(AP)
Myanmar's courts continued a crackdown on activists Friday, 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, was among at least 100 people to receive 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 worldwide by Western governments and human rights groups. They contend that the sentences make a mockery of the ruling junta's professed plan to restore democracy with a 2010 election.
The government holds 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, and several other activists delivered donations of relief supplies to the Cyclone Nargis-shattered Irrawaddy delta. The May cyclone killed more than 84,000 people.
