Five staff members of the now defunct 'Bi-Mon Te Nay' weekly news journal have been found guilty of sedition charges and sentenced to two years each in prison by Rangoon's Pabedan Township Court. Kyaw Win, a defence lawyer for the five - two editors, one reporter and two publishers - said the court on Thursday the 16th October found them guilty for "defamation of the state". "They were given the maximum sentence under Article 505(b) - two years each in prison," he said. The charges were levied after 'Bi-Mon Te Nay' (literally 'Bi-Midday Sun' news journal) published a report in July repeating an activist group's claims that Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi had teamed up with several ethnic politicians to form an interim government. Kyaw Win said the defence team had previously appealed for the five defendants to be charged under the Media Law, but the motion was denied. He said they are now preparing to appeal to a higher court. Zaw Thet Htwe, a news editor and spokesperson for Burma's Interim Press Council, said he was frustrated to hear the verdict. "The sentencing of 'Bi-Mon Te Nay' staffers indicates a lack of communication and coordination between the country's three estates, and it gives me the impression that the judicial sector is not very fond of the media," he said.