Three women political activists sentenced to jail terms during the recent visit of UN Human Rights Envoy to Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, were transferred from Rangoon's Insein Prison to remote upcountry prisons at the weekend, according to a source close to the prison.
Naw Ohn Hla, a former member of the National League for Democracy and a prominent woman activist in Burma in her late fifties, was transferred to Taungoo prison. Cho Cho Aye was sent to Yamethin prison, and San San Myint went to an unidentified prison, the source told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.
The prison authorities did not inform family members of the transfers, the source said. Meanwhile, their lawyer, Kyaw Hoe, confirmed the women were transferred to remote prisons but he did not know the details.
The activists were arrested when they returned from a Rangoon monastery last year and charged with creating unrest.
Prior to their arrest, the women had made a weekly routine of praying for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners at the Shwedagon pagoda in Rangoon, Burma's holiest shrine.
A court sentenced them to two years in jail in February, when Quintana was visiting the country to study human rights conditions in Burma ahead of the polls.
The Burmese regime has transferred many political dissidents to remote prisons, making it difficult for family members to visit them.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma, there are 2195 political prisoners in Burma.
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