ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

By Associated | YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's military government on Friday extended the house arrest of the deputy leader of Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party, despite recent calls from the United Nations for the release of political prisoners.

The extension of Tin Oo's detention came a day before a scheduled visit by the U.N.'s special investigator for human rights in Myanmar and less than two weeks after an official visit by the U.N. secretary-general's special envoy, who was trying to promote political reform and reconciliation in the military-ruled country.

The U.N. and many Western countries and human rights groups have long been calling for the freedom of political detainees — most notably Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi — but the hardline junta has given no indication it plans to loosen control before a general election scheduled for 2010.

Human rights groups say Myanmar now holds more than 2,100 political prisoners, up sharply from about 1,200 before mass pro-democracy demonstrations in 2007.

Tin Oo, 82, the vice chairman of the National League for Democracy, was arrested with Suu Kyi in May 2003, when a pro-government mob attacked their motorcade as they were making a political tour of northern Myanmar. Both party leaders have either been in prison or under house arrest since then.

Tin Oo's house arrest was extended for one year, said a government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release such information. The junta tightly controls the release of all news.

Several policemen and Home Ministry officials were seen visiting Tin Oo's Yangon home to inform him that the restrictions had been extended, according to a neighbor who asked not to be named for fear of government reprisal. Tin Oo's detention has been extended several times since 2005.

The junta issues no public announcements of detention orders, which come into force when they are delivered and read to the detainee.

U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who met with Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein on Feb. 3, reportedly asked Myanmar's junta to release more political prisoners, to consider a dialogue with Suu Kyi and to make the military-guided political process inclusive for all. But since the visit, there have been no signs of progress on promoting democracy and political reconciliation.

Human rights investigator Tomas Ojea Quintana will visit some political prisoners and political party leaders during his six days visit, the U.N. said in an announcement Friday. The visit will be his second, and he will evaluate progress on human rights issues since last summer, it said.

In a rare but small act of clemency, a Myanmar court has reduced to 35 years a 59-year sentence given to a prominent dissident, a member of his family said Friday.

Comedian and activist Zarganar, 47, has been serving a 59-year prison sentence in Myitkyina prison in northern Myanmar since November after he was convicted of various charges including causing public alarm — for interviews he gave to foreign media — communicating with exiled dissidents and violating the Electronics Act, which regulates all forms of electronic communication.

A relative, who asked not to be named so as not to attract the attention of authorities, said Zarganar's sentence was reduced after a Yangon court agreed to drop three charges under the Electronics Act.

Zarganar, whose real name is Maung Thura, was one of scores of dissidents given harsh sentences by Myanmar courts late last year. Many were sent to remote areas of the country, far from friends and relatives, to serve their sentences.