Dec 18, 2008 (DVB), Burmese authorities are planning to file further charges against Arakan state National League for Democracy member Min Aung, who is currently imprisoned in Sagaing division’s Kalaymyo jail, a family member said.

Min Aung, the Arakan state NLD treasurer and a member of Taunggok township NLD organising committee, was arrested on 13 October last year and sentenced to nine years' imprisonment.

His sentence was reduced to two and a half years on appeal.

As his release date draws nearer, the authorities in Taunggok have been preparing to press further charges against him to keep him detained, a family member said.

She added that local police were collecting witnesses to testify in the case.

Min Aung was accused of leaking video footage to foreign media showing a soldier dragging away two protesters who had been demonstrating against high commodity prices.

He was also accused of involvement in last September’s Saffron Revolution and was arrested on his way home from Rangoon and charged with five offences.

He was transferred from Sandoway jail to Insein prison on 10 February this year, and then to Mandalay jail on 17 February.

In March he was sent to Kalaymyo jail, where he continues to be held.

Reporting by Nan Kham Kaew