Held for more than 10 months, a group of 17 Burmese refugees who were charged with illegal assembly were finally released from prison after their court case was postponed for a whopping 12 times.

"The magistrate (Mohd Aimi Zaini Mohd Azhar) has ordered them to be discharged but not amounting to acquittal," their lawyer Latheefa Koya said when contacted today.

The prosecution had applied for postponements time and again since February because "the investigation papers are still with the Attorney-General's Chambers."

The 17 were released in two batches from the Sungai Buloh prison - 16 on Thursday and the remaining one yesterday. All of them are registered refugees with the UN refugee agency.

The refugees were charged under Section 27 (5) of the Police Act 1967 for illegal assembly after being arrested in a demonstration in front of the Burmese embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Feb 17.

One pleaded guilty - given five months

The 35-minute demonstration was against the military junta and calling for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners in their home country.

The protest was also held against the reconvening of the national constitution convention in Rangoon, which had excluded Suu Kyi's party that won a landslide victory in the 1990 elections.

The 17 Burmese nationals were among 18 arrested during the protest. One of the protestor, a woman, had pleaded guilty in April and was sentenced to five months' imprisonment.