Dhaka: Burmese military authorities produced 11 Arakanese youths inside Insein prison's court on 23 December, after three months of detaining them for interrogation, said a colleague of the youths.

"The authority produced them at the western district court of Insein prison on 23 December, and Judge San Myint was hearing the government plaintiff's complaint," he said.

Among the 11 Arakanese youth are Tun Lin Kyaw, Ko Khaing Kyaw Moe, and Ko Kyaw Win, who were arrested by Burma's special police in Rangoon and Sittwe in September 2009, on accusations they had connections to outside political organizations.

"The police charged them in court with two offenses, one is having connections to illegal political organizations, and another is an immigration offense, as some of them crossed the border without permission," he said.

The connection with an illegal organization is prohibited under a section of Act 17 (1), while crossing the border without permission was charged under Act 13.

According to family sources, the youths were severely tortured and harassed by the authority during the interrogations prior to being produced on charges in court.

The Burmese military junta-run newspaper published a story about the arrest of the youths on 24 September, claiming the authority seized C-4 cartridges from them and reporting the government had accused the youth of plotting with the ABSDF and AASYC to create public unrest in Burma.

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