Yangon:  Two separate appeals were launched today for the release of political prisoners in Myanmar - for some pro-democracy demonstrators held for almost two weeks and for an elderly journalist entering his 20th year in detention.

The National League for Democracy party of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi called for the release of 13 party members and a Buddhist monk they said were illegally arrested on June 19 in front of party headquarters in Yangon.

They were beaten by pro-government forces and detained after shouting slogans calling for Suu Kyi's release at a ceremony marking her 63rd birthday, the party said

Reporters Without Borders meanwhile called for the immediate release from prison of journalist Win Tin, 78, whose health is said to have deteriorated badly in the past few days. The UN has called him the country's longest-serving political prisoner.

The Paris-based press freedom group said in a statement that Win Tin "is suffering from lung problems with severe asthmatic attacks, which prevent him from sleeping and eating properly. A relative who visited him two days ago found him thin and weak."

Win Tin was sentenced on several charges, including subversion and making "anti-government propaganda."

"It will be exactly 19 years on 4 July since Burma's military arrested Win Tin," said Reporters Without Borders, using the old name for Myanmar. "The government, which has a responsibility to protect the life of its citizens, should now release him. He should be moved to a hospital as quickly as possible."

The UN estimated that Myanmar had some 1,100 political prisoners before last September's pro-democracy demonstrations, which were quashed by force. The numbers were believed to have increased by several hundred after the protests were crushed.

Source : PTI