Rangoon: An Arakanese politician belonging to the Arakan League for Democracy, the third winning party in the 1990 Burmese elections, was sentenced by the military authorities to 20 years in prison last month, said his relative in Rangoon over the phone to Narinjara.

“He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in Insein jail without a chance to defend himself or allowed lawyers,” he said.

Ko Ban Chan Pru, (54), was arrested from his house in South Okkalarpa Township in Rangoon on January 22, 2007 on suspicion of having connections with an opposition group in exile.

The arrest came after two Arakanese youth had been arrested by authorities on their way to the Thailand border from Rangoon.

Ko Ba Chan Pru’s relative said the authorities reportedly found a letter from Ko Ba Chan Pru to an Arakanese opposition group in Thailand in the possession of the two youths.

The authorities arrested Ko Ba Chan Pru from his house in Rangoon for having sent the letter to the exiled Arakanese group and six months later sentenced him to 20 years in prison.

Ko Ban Chan Pru is not only a member of the Arakan League for Democracy but also a member of the United National Alliance, an ethnic alliance group.

The Burmese authorities have not made an official declaration of the 20 year sentence of the politician; family members only received word of Ko Ba Chan Pru’s long prison term from the prison authorities.