YANGON : Myanmar authorities have charged 14 supporters of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for protesting against the extension of her house arrest, police said on Saturday.

They were arrested on Suu Kyi's 63rd birthday on June 19 as they shouted for her release outside the party headquarters of her National League for Democracy (NLD).

"They were charged at the township court on Friday afternoon for causing public unrest that day by shouting slogans," a police source said.

The NLD said it was working for their release.

"I was told 14 people appeared at Bahan township court yesterday afternoon. We are hoping for the best for them," party spokesman Nyan Win said.

Last Monday the NLD accused the government of illegal detention.

"The arrest was not in accordance with the law," the statement said.

On Friday, four NLD members were each sentenced to a year in jail for urging people to vote "No" in a nationwide constitutional referendum, which was held and passed by the ruling junta in May.

The NLD said another senior party member had been arrested on Wednesday in Shwe Pyitha township in northern Yangon without reason.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the world's only Nobel Peace Prize winner currently in detention, has spent most of the last 18 years confined to her home. The junta extended her house arrest by another year in May.

She led her party to a landslide victory in 1990 elections, but has never been allowed to govern.

- AFP/jk