Burmese authorities have charged seven more political prisoners who took part in the September uprising, including prominent activist Htay Kywe, Su Su Nway and Mie Mie, say sources in Rangoon.

Htay Kywe and Mie Mie are leading members of the 88 Generation Students group.

Su Su Nway won the John Humphrey Freedom Award and is a youth member of the National League for Democracy.

Win Maung, the father of Pyone Cho, an 88 Generation Students group member who recently visited Insein Prison, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that Htay Kywe and Mie Mie were charged under section 17/20 of Burma’s Printing and Publishing Act.

Su Su Nway was reportedly charged under article 124, 505 and 125 of the penal code. Win Maung said he could not identify the names of all seven activists who were charged.

According to Aung Thein, a lawyer in Rangoon, article 505 concerns a threat to the government’s stability—a charge that could result in three years imprisonment; article 124 reportedly relates to acts that could destabilize the government and could result in life imprisonment.

Su Su Nway is scheduled to go on trial on February 6 in Rangoon’s Bahan Township, Win Maung said.

A fourth political prisoner, pro-democracy activist Win Maw, was charged under article 5 (J)—which involves a threat to the security or stability of the country, which could lead to seven years imprisonment.

A popular Burmese musician, Win Maw was arrested in November along with two friends, Myat San and Aung Aung, as they sat in a Rangoon teashop.

Win Maw, the lead guitarist in the Shwe Thansin group, one of Burma’s top bands in the 1990s, was sentenced in 1997 to seven years imprisonment for writing songs in support of Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. He was released in 2003.

Meanwhile, Myo Yan Naung Thein, a member of 88 Generation Students who was arrested in December, is now in poor health, according to his brother, Myo Hteik.

“Someone must help him when he tries to walk,” he said. “He can’t move his body on the left side. I am really worried about his health. I want the authorities to give him a chance to get a medical checkup in a hospital outside of the prison.”  

According to reports, Myo Yan Naung Thein was tortured and beaten when he was held in the interrogation center for one week. In 1996, he was imprisoned for seven years.

Meanwhile, other political prisoners are in poor health, according to NLD spokesman Nyan Win.

They include Win Mya Mya, an organizer of the Mandalay branch of the NLD; Than Lwin, the vice-chairman of the NLD’s Mandalay Division; and Shwe Maung, an NLD member. All are detained in Mandalay Prison.

According to London-based Amnesty International, some 1,850 political prisoners are currently held in Burmese prisons, and 96 persons remain unaccounted for following the September demonstrations. An estimated 700 political activists were arrested in September 2007.