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Party slams strong-arm arrests



(FROM HONGKONG STANDARD) Nov 01, 97
Party slams strong-arm arrests
RANGOON: Burma's opposition has slammed the Rangoon military junta for
using ``excessive authority'' against it when it arrested some of its
members as they tried to hold a party meeting. 
In a strong protest, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy
(NLD) party accused the generals of ``unlawful harassment of a legitimate
political party'' and demanded the unconditional release of its members. 

Meaningful dialogue and not strong-arm action was the only way to solve
the problems of the country, it said. 

Five NLD members, including elected parliamentarians, were detained on
Tuesday after hundreds of heavily armed riot police blocked the Nobel
Peace Prize laureate and her supporters from holding a meeting in north
Rangoon. 

The five were picked up after the planned gathering at an NLD office in
Mayangone township was thwarted by the security forces, sources said. 

Officials in Rangoon have said four people were ``called in for
questioning'' after trying to hold an illegal political meeting. They
said on Friday that the fifth person had been arrested for involvement in
illegal gambling. _ AFP