Human rights groups on Friday urged Myanmar's government to release more than 20 aid workers they said were imprisoned for making donations to cyclone victims and insulting authorities a year ago.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said the ruling junta had unfairly jailed at least 21 volunteers, including locally well-known comedian Zarganar, for helping some of the 2.4 million people affected by Cyclone Nargis, which hit May 2-3 last year.
The storm left 138,000 people dead or missing and, one year on, aid agencies estimate half a million people remain without adequate shelter.
"Donors and friends of the military government, such as China, should press Burma's generals to free activists like Zarganar who helped the survivors," said the organisation's deputy Asia director Elaine Pearson, using the country's former name.
The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners called on regional bloc the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations to pressure the regime to release the volunteers.
"Their punishment is completely unacceptable. Their 'crimes' were to help people and tell the truth about the situation," said the group's secretary Tate Naing.
Myanmar's junta was heavily criticised in the aftermath of the cyclone last year for the slow pace at which it organised aid to the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta region and for not allowing international relief agencies access.
Authorities initially denied visas to foreign humanitarian aid workers and refused permission to nearby naval vessels from the United States, the United Kingdom and France to offload aid supplies.
In late May UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon brokered a deal that allowed a tripartite group of officials from the UN, Myanmar's government and ASEAN to coordinate aid deliveries to the delta.
But several individuals who distributed aid independently to victims were arrested by the authorities, including Zarganar who was arrested in June 2008 on various charges, including causing "public mischief".
The country's most famous comedian, Zarganar was sentenced to 59 years in prison, since reduced to 35 years, and was moved to a remote prison far from Yangon.
On Friday his sister told AFP Zarganar was undergoing tests for suspected heart disease after falling unconscious for more than two hours on April 16.
Ma Nyein said blood tests had been sent to a laboratory in the central city of Mandalay and she would be appealing for Zarganar's release to ensure he receives full medical treatment.
Human Rights Watch in their statement also urged international donors to ensure their money reached the most vulnerable cyclone victims and for the Myanmar government itself to provide more funds for survivors.
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