Yangon - A popular Myanmar comedian known for his criticism and satire of the country's military junta was sentenced Friday to 45 years in prison in a closed-door court session in Yangon, an opposition spokesman said.

Zarganar, who had provided food and water to monks involved in anti-government demonstrations in September 2007, was convicted under military-ruled Myanmar's Electronics Act, which requires permits for electronic equipment, said U Nyan Win, spokesman for the National League for Democracy (NLD), the pro-democracy party led my Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Another prominent dissident, Ashin Gambira - a monk who was one of the leaders of the 2007 protests, which were brutally suppressed by the military junta - also was sentenced Friday to 55 and a half years in prison under various charges, his relatives said.

He had previously been sentenced to 12 and a half years, bringing his total sentence to 68 years.

Both dissidents were sentenced at court sessions at Insein Prison, where many of the country's political prisoners are detained.

The jail terms were the latest in a series of long sentences handed down against dissidents who participated in the anti-government protests of August and September
2007.

Analysts said the judicial crackdown is in preparation for the 2010 general election, which promises to be neither free nor fair.

Ashin Gambira, 29, was arrested in November 2007 in Sint Kaing, a small town in central Myanmar's Mandalay division.

Zarganar, 47, was arrested in September 2007 at his Yangon home for his involvement in the monk-led protests.

The comedian, who is banned from performing, was released after a few months but was rearrested in June while he was collecting and distributing relief to the victims of Cyclone Nargis, which left more than 132,000 dead or missing.

At that time, Zarganar had defied an order that cyclone donations be distributed through representatives of the junta and ignored warnings not to talk with foreign media.

Police also seized computers and other electronic equipment from his home.

Zarganar, whose name means tweezers, is a popular comedian, film actor and director as well as a fierce critic and frequent political prisoner of the Burmese military government.

He was arrested in 1988 during mass demonstrations against Myanmar's military rulers, which ended in a bloodbath that left an estimated 3,000 people dead. He was accused then of being an "instigator" and sent to Insein for a year.

Zarganar was arrested again during the 1990 elections for giving political speeches and sentenced to another four years in prison.

The NLD overwhelmingly won those elections, which were the first free voting in Myanmar in nearly 30 years, but the military junta annulled the results and barred the party from taking power.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The country's best known opposition figure, Suu Kyi, has been under house arrest since May 2003. (dpa)