Myanmar’s High Court sentenced two lawyers from Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party to four months each in prison for contempt of court, a party spokesman said yesterday.
Nyan Win said the jailing of Aung Thein and Khin Maung Shein, who have represented student activists in the courts, was a sign of increased pressure on the party from the ruling junta.
“U Aung Thein and U Khin Maung Shein were sentenced to four months imprisonment each by the High Court yesterday morning. They were taken from their homes last night,” Nyan Win said.
“Although they can appeal, U Aung Thein said he will not as he doesn’t recognize the sentence,” he said.
“We are in a difficult situation now as they [the lawyers] often represented political activists. This is strong pressure from the authorities,” Nyan Win said.
Aung Thein and Khin Maung Shein made their defense to the High Court in Myanmar’s main city Yangon on Thursday after receiving a letter last week that charged they had disrespected the court during an earlier trial of student activists.
The US State Department on Friday condemned Myanmar for charging lawyers defending student activists.
“These actions represent a blatant attempt by the regime to intimidate these lawyers and demonstrate its contempt for the rule of law,” US State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said in statement.
Wood demanded that Myanmar release another lawyer, Nyi Nyi Htwe, sentenced to six months in prison last week for disturbing court procedure, and stop the prosecution of another lawyer, Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min, who also faces possible prison time for contempt of court.
Aung Thein and Khin Maung Shein had represented nine detained student activists whose sentences were extended by six months last week for disturbing court procedure.
The National League for Democracy party, led by detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, won a landslide victory in 1990 elections but Myanmar’s military junta never allowed them to take office.
She has spent most of the intervening years under house arrest in the country, which has been ruled by the military since 1962.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s doctor Tin Myo Win and his assistant visited her in her lakeside prison home on Thursday for a medical checkup, two months after she refused food supplies, sparking concerns for her health.
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