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Myanmar Foreigners get 5 Years and



Myanmar Foreigners Get 5 Years

 .c The Associated Press 

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Eighteen foreign activists -- including six Americans
-- arrested last week for handing out pro-democracy leaflets in Myanmar were
sentenced to five years hard labor today after pleading guilty to violating
sedition laws. 

The Americans, three Malaysians, three Indonesians, three Thais, two Filipinos
and one Australian were charged with violating section the 1950 Emergency
Provision Act. They had been questioned for six days. 

The sweeping law allows authorities to hand out maximum 20-year jail sentences
for attempting to incite unrest or disrupt the peace and stability of the
state. 

Before the verdict was read, the defendants and foreign diplomats who attended
the trial appeared relaxed and jovial as the judge read out the charges and
asked for pleas from the accused after listening to testimony for most of the
day from nine prosecution witnesses. 

Speculation in foreign embassies and outside the country was that the Myanmar
government would deport the activists after trying them. 

Various diplomats had asked during the day to consult with the defendants, but
were denied permission. A single judge, Khang Gyi, presided. There was no
jury. The trial was open to diplomats and journalists. 

The courtroom was a concrete building outside the walls of Insein Prison,
where hundreds of political prisoners are kept along with violent criminals. 

A diplomat who visited the American activists Thursday said embassies were not
informed of the trial until this morning. 

``I hope they will be treated leniently,'' said U.S. charge d'affaires Kent
Wiedemann as he entered the courtroom. 

In Manila, Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Lauro Baja said: ``Let my people
go.'' 

In Bangkok, Thailand, weeping and angry relatives appealed at a news
conference for their release. 

They were joined by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who has a constituent among
the detainees, Michele Keegan, 19. 

Smith said it would be ``premature'' to discuss new U.S. sanctions against
Myanmar but ``right now, there's an opportunity, a small window, to release
these people.'' 

The activists were detained Sunday, the day after the 10th anniversary of a
failed nationwide democracy uprising, for handing out small cards to Myanmar
citizens telling them the outside world supported their struggle and to not
give up. 

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been ruled by the military in various guises
since 1962. More than 3,000 demonstrators were gunned down during the 1988
uprising. 

The 18 foreign activists have been kept at a police guest house in the
capital. Diplomats who have visited them have described them as cheerful,
well-fed and treated humanely. 

The government issued a statement this week saying their release had been
delayed because they were being uncooperative. 

The military is attempting to find a way to discourage foreign activists from
entering Myanmar and inciting revolt, while at the same time avoiding
repercussions from the governments of countries from which the activists come.

Earlier this year, the military government sentenced a British-Australian
national, James Mawdsley, to five years in prison for also handing out pro-
democracy leaflets. He was released after three months. 

Mawdsley had been detained in 1997 for a similar action, but was deported with
just a warning not to return. His trial was the first open to some members of
the public in decades and he was represented by a lawyer. 

AP-NY-08-14-98 0846EDT