Yangon, November 11:

A court in Myanmar sentenced 14 members of a well-known pro-democracy group to 65 years imprisonment each today, relatives said.

The members of the 88 Generation Students group, including five women, were sentenced by a court in Yangon’s Insein Prison, they said.

“I heard from sources close to the prison that my son and 13 others were given 65-year prison sentences this morning in a closed-door trial,” said Nyunt Nyunt Oo, mother of 31-year-old Pandeik Tun, one of the 14. “No family members or defence lawyers were present at the trial.” Many members of the 88 Generation Students were at the forefront of a 1988 pro-democracy uprising and were subjected to lengthy prison terms and torture after the rebellion

was brutally suppressed by the military.

After they were freed, they resumed their political activities, and spearheaded open and legal protests against the military government.

Several of those sentenced today played prominent roles in demonstrations leading up to last year’s mass pro-democracy protests, which were crushed by the ruling junta in September last year. They include Kyaw Min Yu - also known as Jimmy - and his wife Nilar Thein, and Mie Mie, all of whom played high-profile roles.

Most of them were arrested on August 21, 2007, along with other activists, for staging a street protest against a massive fuel-price hike, while others were arrested after the larger rallies led by Buddhist monks that were violently suppressed.