11 NLD Members Sentenced

Tin Yu, the chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Hlaing Tharyar Township, and 10 other members of the party were each sentenced to seven years and six month’s imprisonment at a special court in Insein Prison on Thursday, according to sources close to the prison.  

The 10 other NLD members were named as: Thant Zin Myo, Aung Min Naing, San Win, Win Myint, Myo Kyaw Zin, Kyaw Soe Win, Yan Naing Tun, Than Naing, Soe Min Min and female Hla Hla Maw.

The 11 NLD members were sentenced for: illegal assembly; resisting officials on duty; and disturbing public order, according to relatives of the political activists.

The 11 were originally charged on May 15, 2007, while conducting a peaceful protest from Shwe Yin Aye bus stop to Nyaungdon Road in Hlaing Tharyar Township in western Rangoon, carrying posters and placards bearing the slogan: “Free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi!”

Thant Zin Myo, Aung Min Naing, San Win, Win Myint, Myo Kyaw Zin and Kyaw Soe Win were then arrested for taking part in demonstrations during the popular uprising in August-September 2007.

Tin Yu, Yan Naing Tun, Than Naing, Soe Min Min and Hla Hla Maw were arrested in late August 2008 by the authorities and taken to Hlaing Tharyar Township court, also on charges of participating in last year’s demonstrations.

Lawyer Nyi Nyi Htwe, who represented the 11 political activists, was sentenced on October 30 to six month’s imprisonment for contempt of court.

NLD Chairman Tin Yu, 72, had previously been hospitalized after being attacked while walking out the front door of his house by an unknown assailant in late March.

The sentence marks the first of many expected court cases on Thursday as hundreds of activists remain incarcerated following the demonstrations last year.