A FAMILY called last night for diplomatic efforts to be stepped up to win the release of jailed pro-democracy campaigner James Mawdsley.

The 27-year-old activist, who was educated in the North-East, was arrested for handing out leaflets about the ruling military junta in Burma, within hours of entering the country a year ago yesterday.

He went before a court less than 24 hours later and received a 17-year sentence.

Mr Mawdsley has spent the past year in solitary confinement in a remote prison, 400 miles north of the Burmese capital, Rangoon.

His family, including his mother, Diana, a nurse from Brancepeth, near Durham City, claim he was tried unfairly.

He was recently refused leave to appeal against conviction by a Burmese high court in Mandalay.

Mrs Mawdsley said there is only one more avenue, a special appeal, available through Burmese judicial channels.

She said: "We don't hold out much hope, however, because there is no independent judiciary in the country.

"They don't want to give him the platform to highlight the injustice. They want to keep him silent."

She was joined by her estranged husband, David, and James's twin brother, Jeremy, a Royal Artillery captain, at a London rally backed by pressure groups Amnesty International and the Jubilee Campaign, last night.

The gathering, to mark James's year behind bars in Burma, was staged on the River Thames outside the Houses of Parliament.

It included addresses by lobbyist Wilfred Wong, and human rights supporter peer Lord Alton.

They called for political pressure to be increased to seek James's release, should the final appeal process fail.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said last night it has raised James's case "frequently and at the highest level".

He said: "But we cannot ask for his release until he has exhausted the full judicial process and tried every avenue of appeal. James and his family agree with this approach.

"We share James's aim for a free and democratic Burma, and we want to see James safely back in the UK."

Mrs Mawdsley travels to Burma next week to visit her son in prison